


What Happens At Camp (Stays At Camp)

by reliquiaen



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 05:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6410815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reliquiaen/pseuds/reliquiaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Rei’s hair was still glittery even after she’d showered." Camp week sucks, basically. It's five and a bit days of pure hell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to the Ayanamis. (Even if it is a day late in my time zone oops.) This was going to be just a little thing but... oh well. Blame Xairathan. As always.  
> Working title was Camp Gay and I nearly didn't escape this fate.

The rumour mill works in strange ways.

A common sentiment among high school kids, truthfully. No one ever seemed to know where a rumour started, or who had first heard the ‘facts’, or what events had prompt its origin. Always a mystery these things remained. Shrouded in exaggeration and the over active imaginations of the mill employees.

Asuka had never paid much mind to the wild stories they spread like chaff on a spring westerly. The rumours had only ever been kind to her so what did it matter? Sure, the occasional idiot would start harping on about how horrid a person she was and that she broke so-and-so’s heart or something trivial like that. But nothing ever _stuck_ to Asuka, it’d all blow over in a few days and life would go on. So she ignored it.

Until the day she stopped ignoring it.

Of course, it was so typical really, that something Big and Dramatic would start making the rounds in hushed whispers right before they went away for their leadership camp. In fact, they started that morning. All the girls were giggling about the fountain in the courtyard as they waited for the bus when Asuka arrived. A whole gaggle of them had their heads together, phones out, nattering away about something.

Even as Asuka watched, hitching her bag strap a little higher on her shoulder, her friends appeared at her elbow. Hikari latched onto her arm, shaking her enthusiastically. Sakura meanwhile just smiled hugely, leaning into her conspiratorially. Gently, Asuka tugged her arm free of Hikari’s grasp, smiling a little confusedly at them.

“What’s going on here, huh? Celebrity scandal?” she asked them, nodding at the other girls.

Both of her friends turned to see where she was indicating and Asuka took that moment of distraction to peer through the crowd and pick out Rei. She spotted the other girl sitting on the stairs leading up to the assembly hall, her messy hair falling in her face. Asuka could still tell she was reading, book propped against her knees, and the cords of her earphones dangled past her chin before slipping into her neckline, no doubt in an attempt to conceal them from teachers. Asuka felt herself smile as she watched her and then something pinged through her ribs and she looked away.

Just in time to see Hikari and Sakura turn back towards her, both wearing impish smiles. “Well,” Hikari began in a slightly scary tone. She left that for a moment, hanging there like some kind of verbal cliff-hanger. “ _Apparently_ Ayanami is gay.”

Asuka just blinked at her, then her eyes lifted to find Rei again and she frowned. Ignoring the way her stomach twisted was another thing. “According to who and what’s their evidence?”

“Oh, Asuka,” Hikari tittered. “Shinobu is never wrong about these things. Besides, have you seen her wardrobe?”

“We have a uniform, Hikari,” Asuka pointed out flatly.

Hikari just waved her away. “Yeah but out of uniform? Look what she’s wearing today.”

Asuka _was_ looking at what Rei was wearing. No uniform for camp meant that all sorts of conclusions were leapt to about casual dress choices. For instance, that Shinobu is a horrible uptight witch who thinks high fashion is the only fashion worth worrying about. (Not an inaccurate assessment, either, Asuka didn’t think.) For her part, Rei wore a simple white top with a blue check over shirt, beige pants and flat heeled shoes. Nothing incriminating, in Asuka’s opinion.

In fact, the look was pretty cute. Asuka felt her cheeks heat at the thought and looked away from Rei before she ended up in the same situation.

“It’s the hair,” Sakura decided.

Asuka rolled her eyes, adjusting her bag again as the bus rolled into the courtyard. “Short hair does not a lesbian make, Sakura,” she pointed out. “Emiko has short hair.”

“Maybe not,” she conceded. “But in Ayanami’s case it’s a pretty good signal. Plus Shinobu said she heard Ayanami had some sort of crush on one of the girls or something.”

“How would Shinobu even know that?” Asuka scoffed. “Like she ever speaks to Ayanami.”

Sakura shrugged. “How does anyone find out stuff like that? She was probably staring at some poor girl.”

Asuka sighed, but didn’t reply again, figuring it was just easier to drop it. As all the girls filed onto the bus – the lot of them still giggling about the probability of Rei’s lesbianism – Asuka watched sadly. She and her friends ended up the front side of middle, those first on sitting at the back and filling up to the front from there. But Rei, she noticed, sat alone.

Almost, Asuka moved to sit with her. She wanted to; she’d always quite liked Rei (more than she should, really). But she could still hear the whispers of her classmates and the horrible things contained in them stayed her feet.

That didn’t stop her from aching for Rei all the same.

 

* * *

 

Bus trips were boring. Asuka fell asleep, leaning on Sakura’s shoulder and was woken some indeterminate time later by Rei’s hand on her arm. When she realised this Asuka knew her face went pink, she could tell by the matching way her heart skipped. Rei looked a little downcast, somehow more subdued than usual and Asuka didn’t blame her.

Still, when Rei handed her two pieces of paper, Asuka smiled at her. A tiny tentative thing tugged at Rei’s lips in response but it couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination be called a smile. It was something though.

“What’s this for?” she asked Rei quietly, hoping not to draw attention from anyone else.

Rei paused, a little line creasing her brow as she frowned. “You need to pick bunk partners,” Rei explained, voice even softer than Asuka’s had been. “Groups of six.”

Asuka thought about that a second, her eyes drifting down to the paper. “That doesn’t sound right…” she mumbled to the paper. She looked up to tell Rei that there were supposed to be twenty-seven girls so three of them would be separate and how would that work? Only Rei wasn’t there, she’d already moved off down the aisle, handing out the papers and keeping her eyes fixed on the horrible carpet in the bus. (Carpet in a bus? What a stupid decision.)

She twisted to watch Rei for a moment before returning to the task at hand. It was literally just one set of instructions – please write the names of any girls you would like in your cabin, there will be six per room – and then a blank space to carry out the task. At the top was a line for her to scrawl her name and after that she stared at the paper for a while and then looked up, glancing around the bus. For a second, Asuka didn’t know whose name to write. Who would she want to bunk with?

But then, two rows behind her, she heard Shinobu giggle, “Ha, oh wow, who gets put in Rei’s cabin? Poor suckers.”

The girl beside her – Kame, Asuka assumed – laughed with her but Asuka was too busy watching the way Rei’s shoulders tensed, hunching up around her ears. Asuka wrote just one name on her sheet then, she didn’t even add Sakura or Hikari. Just Rei. Then she folded her paper into quarters and when Rei stepped back along the aisle looking like she was trying to fold _herself_ out of existence, Asuka passed it to her with another smile.

That time, Rei barely acknowledged her. She just collected the papers and handed them to their teacher who, thankfully, would not be staying the whole week. Asuka watched him shuffle through them a moment and then turned to look at Rei as she sank back into her seat, hands folding neatly into her lap. Asuka didn’t look away for a good long time either, a potent mix of sorrow and some aching longing coiling between her ribs as she watched Rei stare out her window. But she could still hear the other girls talking and a filament of fury knotted together with the rest.

Shinobu was the loudest, as always. “I hope I’m not in Ayanami’s bunk,” she chuckled, not even close to low enough that Rei wouldn’t hear. “Gross. Can you imagine getting changed with her in there?”

“Oh ew,” Tomone chimed in. “Why would you say that?”

“Guys, look.” There was a pause, Asuka didn’t look around but they must have actually been looking at something. Then she heard Emiko continue in horror, “We have to use _shared_ amenities. Can you believe this?”

“Oh no,” Shinobu laughed. Something pressed against the back of Asuka’s chair and she finally looked away from Rei. Shinobu was leaning past her chair, grinning. “Hey, Langley. Did you hear?”

“Hard not to,” she grumbled in response. “You won’t shut up about it.”

“Better hope you’re not bunking with Ayanami, right?”

“Whatever, Shinobu.” Asuka shoved back against her chair, resolving to ignore them. “Maybe secretly you _want_ Ayanami to be perving on you, huh?”

She could practically feel when Shinobu’s face scrunched up. “Not even close.” But she flopped back into her seat and tittered away with those more willing to engage her.

Sakura prodded Asuka in her ribs then. “What if we do end up with Ayanami in our bunk?”

“Then I guess we’ll have to be careful when we get changed, won’t we,” Asuka told her simply. “And coordinate trips to the amenities block.”

Sakura huffed. But their bus turned off the highway then and their scenery faded into woodlands, the trees such a vibrant green and Sakura became captivated in that. Across the aisle, Hikari was talking about how there might even be deer here. Asuka didn’t think that likely but whatever. She leaned forward to look past Sakura out the window for only a short while, even though the other girls seemed only too happy to study the endless trees, Asuka sat back, eyes drifting to Rei once more.

It was another twenty minutes to the camp grounds and Asuka spent all of it gritting her teeth to avoid belting one of her horrible classmates for the awful shit they were saying about Rei. Seriously, it was just rude. And even though they did talk about other things (thank god) those other topics never seemed to enthral them for long enough. When they were still a few minutes out Hikari reached across the aisle to prod her in the ribs which at least distracted her from her thoughts.

“Ow,” Asuka snapped, swatting at her friend’s hand. “What’s that for?”

“Look.” Hikari turned her finger to point out her window. “Check out those clouds!”

Asuka snorted. “So it might rain, big deal.”

“You are in _such_ a good mood,” Sakura laughed, propping her chin on Asuka’s shoulder. “Should be fun to spend a week in close confines with you.”

“Shut it, Suzuhara. No one’s making you room with me.”

“Oh, Asuka,” Hikari sighed. “Cheer up and relax. This week is gonna be great.”

Cabins appeared through the foliage then and the bus rocked to a stop in a gravelly courtyard. A tall woman stood in front of one of the buildings, clearly talking animatedly to someone inside. She had a bright red parker hanging from her shoulders, knee high combat boots and a pair of aviators perched on top of her head. Her dark hair whipped around when she whirled to beam up at the driver.

The bus doors whooshed open and all chatter ceased as their teacher stood. “Please disembark in an orderly fashion,” he droned. “And listen to the instructor when she speaks.”

Shinobu snorted a soft laugh but that was the only sound to follow his words. Rei, sitting at the front of the bus, was the first off and Asuka followed her, not sure why, but she sort of really wanted to help her maybe? She didn’t think there was actually anything she could do but it’s the thought right? Sakura and Hikari were close behind her and then everyone was in a rush. Avoiding the crush was ninety percent of the reason Asuka enjoyed sitting near the front of the bus, honestly.

Rei had already stepped off to one side when Asuka’s feet hit the gravel with a crunch and even though her friends carried her off in a different direction, she kept one eye on the other girl. This week could very well be the worst kind of hell for poor Rei and it hurt to think about it. At least the girls had stopped with their awful gossiping. For five seconds at least.

Once they were all gathered on the gravel, watching their teacher with the camp instructor shuffling through papers. A quiet murmur picked up the longer they went without anything happening. The woman in the red coat scribbled something on her clipboard before sliding the sheaf of papers beneath the clasp at the top.

“Good afternoon,” the woman finally said then. “I’m Misato Katsurgi and I’m coordinating all your events for the week. First order of business though…” She paused to brandish her clipboard. “Room assignments. There will be four cabins with six girls in each, however there are two leftover after that…” She flipped through the paper. “Yes two. It looks like the third girl isn’t here. But that’s fine. Those two will be sleeping in the spare supervisor cabin since there are only going to be two of us here this week anyway.” Misato glanced back down at the papers. “So I’ll pin these to the board inside the mess hall just over there and you can find your names in a minute. The only rules are that you must be at your prescribed activity each day and you are not allowed to leave camp grounds. Don’t worry there are plenty of signs.”

The door to the hut behind her cracked open and another woman stepped outside, this one blonde and wearing a pair of grey overalls. She had more papers in her hands and an exasperated expression plastered all over her face. She stopped beside Misato but didn’t speak for a moment, clearly waiting for something. When Misato gave her a mischievous smile she rolled her eyes and that appeared to satisfy her.

“Ladies,” she began. “My name is Ritsuko Akagi and I’m the supervising medical officer for the week. If you have any troubles you come to me. Ignore Misato.”

“Oh hey,” Misato laughed. “We can both be found in this hut, that’s number one because we’re the best. The only times we won’t be here are when we’re with you guys. Which will be always. The timetable for events will be up on the board with the room assignments so if you’re ever not sure where we are, just check that. It knows all.” Misato snapped her board against her palm. “I think that’s it?”

“Sounds about right,” Ritsuko agreed. “Grab your things from the bus and meet us at the mess hall to find your rooms and schedules.”

Behind them, the bus’s undercarriage had already opened with a hydraulic hiss by the time they all turned around to collect their bags from within. As expected, Rei was the first with a hand on her bag and the first to head towards the mess hall. Asuka lost her in the crowd but it’s not like she didn’t know where the other girl was going.

Once the shoving and bag retrieving had concluded they all meandered over to the hall where Rei was standing off to one side, it looked like she was saying something to Ritsuko but Asuka couldn’t be sure. When the rest of the girls approached Rei looked up, like she had some kind of radar, and picked Asuka out. Their eyes met for only a fleeting second before Rei turned away. Asuka continued to stare until Shinobu banging into her shoulder brought her back to the real world.

She blinked, realising several of the others were staring at her with mixed expressions; some sad, others relieved, a strange mix of both in some cases too. At first Asuka didn’t know why they were looking at her like that? Did she end up on kitchen duty? Get all the awful activities? Draw the short straw on…?

It clicked. _Oh_.

Asuka scrambled forward and yep, right there on the rooming list was her name sitting with Rei’s. Not only that, but they were the two by themselves in the supervisors’ hut. Her heart did a weird fluttering thing, dancing to a beat she couldn’t identify. Relief and apprehension and excitement, all jumbled around between her lungs making it hard to breathe. Her heart thumped, feeling like it was rattling loose of its home so she sucked in a deep steadying breath.

And she smiled.

“Hey, Langley.” Asuka’s smile turned sour when she turned to Shinobu. “Have fun bunking with that. Hope she doesn’t do anything weird while you sleep.”

Asuka rolled her eyes. “You think I don’t know how to take care of myself? Why don’t you worry about your own room, huh?”

Shinobu kept smirking but at least her stupid mouth stayed shut. Asuka’s eyes landed on the timetable for the week. Each day had a couple of events pencilled in except today since it was a half day. Even as she was reading what they were supposed to be doing for the rest of the afternoon, the sky rumbled above them and rain began to drum on the roof.

“Okay,” she heard Misato whine. “Looks like we’re doing crafts today then. All of you drop your things off at your cabins and meet back here in ten minutes.”

Asuka’s eyes immediately flicked across the gathering but Rei wasn’t there, her gaze skated away and found her already walking towards the bunk, head bowed against the rain. However, before Asuka could hasten after her, Sakura and Hikari had bookended her, both wearing matching expressions of concern.

“We asked Akagi,” Hikari told her lowly. “Apparently you and Ayanami were put in the hut together because the teacher said you’re ‘responsible girls’.” Asuka snorted but Hikari kept going. “So they won’t let either of you swap out.”

“Probably for the best,” Asuka sighed. She brushed past her friends to catch up with Rei, ignoring the questioning looks they shot her. They’d have a chance to press her later, but thankfully – for now – they let her go.

Still, she didn’t quite catch Rei until she was already inside the cabin. Asuka ducked through the door, hipping it shut behind her and turned to locate Rei. Considering the hut was for the supervisors, it wasn’t anything to write home about. There were two rooms; one, larger of the two, was filled by a pair of bunk beds pressed against opposite walls. Both had matched bookshelves for storage standing at their heads and at the front of the cabin was a large window with a little desk beneath it. The first thing Asuka did was pull the blinds down.

The other room was through an arch in the centre of the back wall. She stuck her head through and found Rei tucking her belongings into another cupboard. This room was narrow and somehow managed to have a lot crammed into it; a sofa on the right, a bench against the rear wall with a few power points and a kettle, another tiny window above it and the cupboard. Amusingly, there was also a television hanging from the corner opposite the lounge chair. Clearly being a supervisor came with perks.

Rei spun around wildly when Asuka’s bag hit the floor. Her eyes went wide, panicked and Asuka immediately felt bad. She looked as if – had Asuka not been between her and the exit – she would’ve bolted.

“Hey,” Asuka began softly. “Listen…” All her breath whooshed out of her lungs in a great rush. She tried again. “Okay, let me know whenever you’re going to the showers alright?” Something wary flashed in Rei’s eyes, but Asuka turned away to haul her bag up onto one of the shelves by the bed nearest the window. “You don’t mind if I take the window do you?” She figured there was less chance one of their awful classmates would come by and say something nasty that way.

But there was no reply from Rei so she glanced over her shoulder again. Rei just stood in the archway, one arm across her body clutching the other elbow, shoulder hunched and eyes fixed on the floor again. As Asuka watched, Rei’s gaze lifted, found she was being scrutinised, and darted away again.

“You…” Rei began in a whisper. “You don’t want to be with me, right?”

Asuka’s hands stilled in the act of pulling clothes from her bag and setting them on the shelf. “Like… in the same bunk?”

“At all.”

“I don’t mind bunking with you, Ayanami,” Asuka told her.

Rei’s warm eyes skittered back towards her and then off again, full of fear. “And… the showers?”

After a beat, Asuka folded the shirt and turned to look at Rei properly. “Look, those girls are going to be horrible to you. I don’t want you going to the showers alone, alright?” She huffed a wry laugh and went back to her bag. “They’d probably beat you up or something. That’d suck…”

She didn’t think Rei had heard her last words, she’d said them so quietly. But still, she got a gentle, “Thank you,” in response.

Asuka felt her cheeks heat and, grumbling to herself, stormed back outside into the rain. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she headed for the hall. God knows if Rei was going to be like that all week she wouldn’t survive the experience.


	2. Day Two

By two in the afternoon on the second Asuka was ready to call this whole _camping_ thing quits and go home. They weren’t even really camping, honestly. There were no tents, no sleeping like animals. But beneath the trees following the rain (which tapered out in the late morning) it was sticky and gross, like breathing through a sponge.

To make it worse – because yes, it could get worse – Misato had decided it was a Grand And Wonderful Idea to try and cram their whole day hiking activity into one afternoon. What did hiking even have to do with leadership and teambuilding anyway? Nothing, as far as Asuka was concerned. Absolutely diddily squat. Literally it was just walking along the marked trails to the top of the ridge and back again. Though admittedly, it was quite a ways to go.

But really. They could’ve done it another day. You know, when it wasn’t so goddamn hot.

She’d worn her shortest shorts and a tank top in an effort to stay the death by muggy heat she was expecting (something the other girls had clearly decided they weren’t brave enough to do what with Rei being a sexual predator or something). Yeah. She’d regretted that decision about twenty minutes in.

Not because of Rei. Oh no. But the rain had brought out all the most _delightful_ denizens of the woods. Aka, bugs. It was like every other step landed her in tall grass full of crawling things intent on biting her. Leaves brushed her shoulder and she had to swipe other things from out of her hair, and the plants all seemed of the variety designed to kill.

What a nightmare.

The only one of them who seemed to have realised the rain would make this hike a problem was – shock and horror – Rei. She wore long pants and proper shoes and a collared shirt (collar popped up to protect her neck which… wow okay, Asuka, calm down). Though really, protected from the Evil Insects she might be, but she must be _damn hot_. Like… because of the weather not because Asuka found her attractive in any way, what a silly thing to imply.

Asuka sighed dramatically because otherwise she’d groan and that’d be terrible. As it was, Sakura ribbed her sharply, giving her a ‘what the hell’ look to which Asuka replied with just a half-hearted shrug. What could she even say that would satisfy her friend, anyway?

In front of them, girls were jostling each other, shoulders bumping as they wove across the path. Misato didn’t seem much to mind when she glanced back at the way the girls were shrieking. But Asuka could tell their good-natured shoving was a cover. She could tell because more than once, Rei nearly ended up pushed off the path.

Asuka watched her stagger once more under the barely veiled shunts of their classmates before she couldn’t take it anymore. She skipped a few steps as she caught up just as Shinobu (God, who else) ‘bumped’ Rei particularly hard in the shoulder and nearly sent her tumbling off the path into the brush. Thankfully, Asuka was just in time to hook her arm through Rei’s elbow to save her from pitching headfirst down the incline.

Rei’s face was nothing but shock as Asuka steadied her, pulling her back onto the path. She didn’t let go either, in fact her hold on Rei’s arm tightened when she tried to pull away. It wasn’t until the last of their classmates had filed past that Asuka even looked at Rei. But she held onto Rei for another moment anyway.

After another beat, Rei slipped free of Asuka’s grasp, muttered another quiet, “Thanks,” and then started off down the trail. Asuka hurried after her.

“Hey,” she began, reaching out to touch Rei again and then thinking better of it. “Are you okay?”

When Rei glanced over at her that time she looked decidedly… wary. As if perhaps she thought this was some cruel trick and was waiting for everything to come crashing down. Asuka wanted to assure her that this wasn’t the case, wanted to tell her everything. But instead she stared at Rei’s face – at her eyes, words clogging up her throat, sticking between her ribs making her heart stutter.

At length, Rei looked away. “I’m fine,” she murmured.

Asuka didn’t believe her. Not by a long shot. But she didn’t press the issue. Instead she simply walked beside Rei all the way back down the ridge into camp.

 

* * *

 

 Dinner at Asuka’s table was fairly benign. At the _other_ table though, it was a completely different story. Shinobu was at the second table, not Asuka’s, and she didn’t know whether to be thankful for that or not. At least Shinobu wasn’t sitting next to Rei. They shared the same table though.

Not much relief really. Asuka probably spent more time watching Rei than talking to her friends (Sakura beside her and Hikari across). Watching the way Nanami left a space between her and Rei as if she thought maybe being gay was contagious. The way – in contrast – Kame kept elbowing Rei, not gently either, or subtly. Asuka very nearly broke her plastic fork when Nanami, with a single careless – but calculated – swipe of her hand, knocked Rei’s glass of juice over. The liquid tumbled across the table, tipped off the edge and landed in Rei’s lap, staining her khaki trousers orange.

“Oh look,” one of the girls along Asuka’s table giggled. “Ayanami wet her pants.”

Rei’s shoulders tensed as laughter rippled through the room. At her table, Shinobu leaned towards a friend and muttered something, gaining uproarious approval. Asuka could only imagine what she’d said.

“Asuka!”

She returned her attention to her friends in time to hear a soft _crack_. Asuka blinked, looked down and… oh. That time she had snapped her fork. The plastic tines sat in the remains of her meal looking a lot like she felt.

“You okay?” Hikari asked her.

Asuka’s eyes wandered back to Rei. “Yeah,” she muttered, tossing the end of her fork onto her plate with a huff. “Swell.” Across the room, Rei righted her glass and then went back to finishing her meal.

Sakura looked up, following Asuka’s gaze to Rei. “I wonder who the girl is she’s crushing on,” she mumbled.

The girl on Sakura’s other side laughed. “Could be any one right?” she decided. “Shinobu thinks either Kura or Asuka.”

At hearing her name, Asuka twisted to peer past Sakura at the girl. “Why me?”

She got an eye roll in response. “I don’t know, Asuka. Why do you think? All the guys love you two, stands to reason that lesbians would too.”

Asuka rocked back to sit normally, toying with her broken fork. The logic didn’t seem right, but the notion that Rei _might_ like her made her heart skip stupidly. So of course she looked up to find Rei again, something suspiciously like hope catching in her throat at the idea.

She was just in time to see Rei carefully slip from her spot on the bench and slink away, ducking out the door before anyone could say anything. Kame scooted over to say something to Nanami which got giggles from most of that end of the table, but Asuka couldn’t hear.

“Excuse me,” Asuka muttered. She had the end seat on the bench so it was easy for her to slide away. Hikari said something behind her but Asuka wasn’t listening. She paused by the food table where snacks were kept and grabbed a few of the ‘dessert cookies’ before she followed Rei out the door. As she walked past the table Rei had been at she grumbled, “You guys are dicks.” But she was out the door before she noticed whether any of them heard her.

Rei was nowhere to be seen so Asuka just wandered back to their cabin. It made sense that Rei would go there, really. There were no lights on inside the hut, no sound either. The door squealed a little when Asuka pushed it in.

“Ayanami?” she called into the darkness. “Are you here?”

No reply.

She stepped inside and nudged the door shut with her foot. Rei wasn’t in the first room so Asuka quietly padded across the floor and stuck her head around the archway.

And there was Rei; sitting on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes were kind of glazed when her head whipped up and she saw Asuka. As if maybe she’d like to be crying but couldn’t allow herself to. She had her earphones in, but one of them tugged free when she moved and she didn’t bother to replace it.

“Hey,” Asuka muttered. “I brought some of the cookies if you want?”

Rei’s face didn’t change, but her shoulders hunched a little closer to her ears like she was trying to fold into herself. Carefully, Asuka crossed the last little way and perched on the edge of the sofa beside her. She held up a couple of the cookies for Rei and didn’t move again until the other girl had very warily taken them off her. Then Asuka leaned back into the chair and even though she could feel Rei’s curious eyes on her, she didn’t move. Not even the silence was enough to make her shift uncomfortably.

It was a few protracted moments later that Rei’s hand appeared in her field of vision. Between her slender fingers was one of her earphones. Asuka rolled her head sideways to look at Rei, just making sure she was interpreting this correctly. Rei just nodded.

So Asuka lifted a hand and tried not to shiver _too_ visibly when their hands brushed. She pressed the bud into her ear and smiled quietly at the music she was greeted with. The soft sounds and gentle voice were very Rei, it was nice. It was like seeing a little bit of Rei’s personal life, the things she kept hidden from everyone else.

Asuka’s heart thudded a little harder at the privilege.

 

* * *

 

She jerked awake a few hours later as her head slid off the back of the couch and she tipped sideways. So of course the first thing she noticed was that Rei was gone. Music still played in one of her ears though. Asuka pulled the earphone away and turned off the iPod, no sense wasting battery.

When she stepped into the other room, she found a similar lack of Rei. Which Asuka considered sort of worrying. Her watch told her it was nearly eleven and it was cold. Asuka dithered for about ten more seconds before grabbing her coat and heading outside to search for her.

She sort of walked a little aimlessly through the moonlight for a while, not rightly sure where she should start. It was pretty though, there were so many stars in the sky out here and the silvery light cast a dreamlike quality over the world. Almost Asuka thought perhaps if this was a dream then everything would be alright. Rei would be fine and… and maybe she’d be happy.

It wasn’t until she remembered that Rei hadn’t showered with the rest of them after the hike (she’d been _outwardly_ concerned by how that might be received) that Asuka figured she’d try the amenities block. Dew waved on the ends of the grass, glittering like diamonds in the soft light, wetting Asuka’s ankles. She tugged her coat a little closer around her as a breeze blew through the trees.

Light spilled through the high windows in the amenities block but that didn’t mean anything. They were on all night in case someone wanted to use the toilets. So Asuka kept going until she got to the door and she had her hand on the knob before she heard it.

Inside, Rei was crying.

Not even just crying, she sounded like all the hurt had finally become too much and it was at long last pouring forth in a torrent she couldn’t control. These were the kind of sobs that wrack a whole body, that come from deep down and prevent oxygen from getting to the lungs. Asuka wanted desperately, with every last fibre, to go in and help her. In any way she could, she wanted to _do something_. But she couldn’t.

Her fingers slipped off the handle and her forehead hit the wood of the door. It took everything in her not to start crying too. Her ribs contracted painfully and the breath in her lungs eddied as she exhaled.

She backed away, scrunching her face up and trying not to pay attention to her breaking heart. Asuka couldn’t bring herself to go back to their room though. Instead she wandered a little way off and sat on the grass. She flopped onto her back after a moment, the dew on the grass tickling the back of her neck and making her shiver.

But there was a truly spectacular view of the cosmos between the trees, the stars twinkling above her in all their infiniteness. She wondered if the universe could consume her; if maybe there was enough space to pour all her emotion into. Maybe it would be too much; maybe some impossible galactic seams would stretch taut and strain and burst with all the feeling. She felt too full of things – of whirling thoughts and strumming feeling, of tiny luminous hopes so small they’d be enveloped by the blackness of her fears.

Asuka didn’t know how long she lay there. Eternity maybe. A few millennia at least. But at long last she heard the door creak. She didn’t look up, it was hard, but she managed.

After a moment, Rei stepped closer and Asuka smiled up at her sadly. Rei’s hair was wet and she still looked damp like maybe she’d been in a hurry to leave. The shoulders of her tank were dark with water and her shorts were definitely not long enough to be standing out in the cold. Even as Asuka watched she shivered, wrapping her arms around her middle.

Still, very carefully, Rei sat beside her, knees bent again with her chin propped on top. Her arms pimpled with gooseflesh as she trembled again.

Asuka sat up and slipped out of her jacket, wrapping it around Rei’s shoulders. Rei hunched her shoulders in response, tilting her head slightly to fix Asuka with a perplexed expression.

“Aren’t you worried?” Rei asked softly, her voice a little raspy, probably from crying.

“About what?”

There was a long pause as Rei clearly reconsidered what she’d been going to say. But her mouth twisted slightly, _sourly_ , an arrangement Asuka had never seen before.  Still she did sigh, “I might get _gay_ on it.” Though her shoulders arched up again, tensing, waiting for some horrible fallout.

Asuka just laughed gently. “I’ll risk it, you look cold. Don’t want you getting pneumonia or something.” The cold tickled at Asuka’s newly exposed shoulders but she ignored it, there was a coiling heat pooling in her stomach just from looking at Rei and she figured it’d keep her warm just fine.

Something flickered in Rei’s red-rimmed eyes and Asuka didn’t think it was more tears. She sniffled, carefully slipping her arms through the sleeves. The cuffs stuck out past her fingers, it was kinda baggy on her honestly, but Rei tucked her nose down into the collar and it was adorable. Asuka’s heart skipped another beat.

“Do you…” Asuka began quietly, Rei’s eyes returning to her. She shrugged. “Do you wanna stargaze for a bit?” Rei still looked wary, but she nodded her head almost imperceptibly all the same. “We don’t have to, I mean you’re _soaked_ and you might catch cold, but it’s really pretty…”

“Langley,” Rei cut her off softly. “I’m fine. You’ll get in trouble.”

Asuka beamed at her, flopping back down onto the grass. “If you stay you’ll get in trouble.” Rei bobbed her head again, accepting that. She didn’t lie down though, just sat there staring through the trees with her face buried in Asuka’s coat. “Let me know when you want to go back,” Asuka added.

There was a long moment of silence. Then, “Why did you…?”

Asuka took a beat to piece that half-question together. “Come looking for you?” she asked waiting for another nod before continuing. “I was worried.”

Rei didn’t look like she believed that but she didn’t say anything about it.

They stayed there for a while, watching the stars. Or well… Rei was watching the stars. After a little bit Asuka’s attention turned back to Rei. The way the moonlight sparkled in her eyes and highlighted the curve of her nose, her chin, cast a halo in her hair and made her shine. It turned her into another gorgeous star, this one stuck in this stupid camp on the wet grass, weighed down by the harsh words of silly schoolgirls. Asuka wondered if Rei didn’t belong in the sky. It made her heart feel much too heavy.

Eventually, Asuka rolled upright, twisting to crack her spine. Then she held a hand out for Rei. “We should probably get some sleep tonight. They’ll have us up at some ridiculous hour in the morning, you know?”

It took a moment, but Rei did eventually take her hand. Rei’s fingers were cold between Asuka’s and she squeezed them instinctively, hoping to warm them up, hoping this didn’t mean she’d get sick. She didn’t let go once Rei was on her feet, not straight away, it took a second for her to realise now she was just holding the girl’s hand for no reason. Asuka felt her face heat as their fingers slid apart and she headed off for the cabin hoping Rei hadn’t seen it. That would be embarrassing.

Once back to their hut, Asuka flopped face first onto the bottom bunk of her bed, kicking off her shoes as she did so. Normally more of a top-bunk kind of girl, tonight she was too tired to be bothered. She burrowed into the blankets and watched as Rei set about getting ready to sleep.

Rei slipped between her sheets still wearing Asuka’s coat.

It made her smile.


	3. Day Three

See, the thing about bunking with Rei was that it automatically put Asuka in all of her events. Not that Asuka minded, she would’ve signed up with Rei so she had a friend anyway, but it did come with its own host of complications. The first of which was the predictable comments from the other girls about how Rei ended up Asuka’s partner for activities and that it was totally nefarious. She _really_ wanted to beat them.

Instead she just sighed, staring down at the bright orange kayak in front of her. Asuka looked up, finding Rei standing on the other side wearing an adorable little perplexed expression. For a second all Asuka could do was stare, she was such a dork. Wearing a deep blue rash shirt and ultramarine board shorts and even a pair of those waterproof reef shoes she looked so prepared for this. More prepared than Asuka, that’s for sure. Asuka had board shorts, yes, but all she’d thrown over her bikini top was a white t-shirt. Rei had also been wearing a red checked over shirt but it was now folded neatly on the sand with her towel. Oh yes, she was very prepared.

“So,” Asuka muttered. “I’ve never been kayaking before. You?”

Rei blinked up at her and shook her head.

“Awesome. Let’s muddle through this then. How hard can it be?”

She got a dubious sound for that and Rei looked a lot like she thought Asuka had jinxed them.  Still they somehow managed to get the boat in the water. Asuka held the sides as Rei climbed in but then when she tried to clamber in after her the kayak rocked wildly and they both nearly pitched into the water. Which would have been the single biggest fail of Asuka’s life. So she’s glad that didn’t happen.

It tilted again dangerously, water sloshing up over the sides to soak into Asuka’s shirt. For a second she wondered if maybe a white shirt hadn’t been a horrible, awful idea. But she was wearing a bikini beneath it so what did it matter. Her fingers closed awkwardly around the paddle… ore? Is it a paddle or an ore in a kayak? Asuka didn’t know.

Rei twisted to glance at Asuka over her shoulder. She looked uncertain and Asuka didn’t blame her. She did offer Rei a smile all the same. A return one was not forthcoming.

Somehow they managed to manoeuvre the boat out into the lake, a feat, Asuka was sure. Their ores dipped into the water very slowly, neither wanting to tip over. Around them, six other boats were doing the same. Thankfully, Shinobu wasn’t among the girls from the cabins they were currently tagging along with. Tomone and Emiko were though and Asuka kept an eye on their kayak, making a point of attempting to steer herself and Rei away from them.

Rei must have noticed this but she didn’t say anything. In fact, they somehow succeeded in staying quite a decent distance from the other girls, just paddling along lazily, Asuka watching Rei’s hair stir in the breeze. They drifted through reeds and stared at the trees, floating close to the mouth of a river. They weren’t supposed to leave the lake, though really Asuka had no idea why not. This was supposed to be leadership building camp or something. But whatever. Paddling around the lake with Rei was nice. At least… while it lasted.

Then Ritsuko from her seat on the shore called, “Hey, don’t stray too far.” Everyone looked around but her hand was raised, indicating Asuka and Rei. Once the other girls had realised who Ritsuko meant, they all swivelled to stare at them.

From her spot in the back, Asuka could pick the exact second Rei’s posture changed beneath the scrutiny. Her shoulders tensed and her head dipped like maybe it would if she’d been caught doing something against the rules. Asuka waved at Ritsuko to let her know they were coming back and reached out to touch Rei lightly on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go back,” she sighed.

Rei’s face was pointed towards the trees, not looking at the girls or Ritsuko, not even Asuka. But in the tiny sliver of her face that Asuka could see there was a walled up sort of pain, forced behind bars so no emotion displayed on her features. Asuka recalled the sounds of her gut-wrenching sobs from the evening prior and wondered if this was a precursor.

Still, Rei nodded and dipped her ore back into the water, directing them away from the mouth of the river. Unfortunately that meant they had to travel between the other girls. Rei pointed the nose of the boat towards the shore, but still. Asuka glared at the nearest boat, daring them to say something.

Nothing was said, not straight away at any rate. They actually got most of the way there. And then Tomone opened her big stupid mouth.

“Trying to kidnap, Asuka, huh?” she asked, eliciting laughter from the other girls. “Get some _alone time_ , maybe?” The laughter increased.

When Emiko lifted her ore to splash water at Rei, Asuka snapped. She lurched forward in her seat and grabbed the end of the ore. For a moment the scene paused. Then she wrenched it from Emiko’s grasp and threw it in the water.

Asuka’s kayak rocked precariously. “Langley,” Rei whined. She twisted, throwing her body weight at Asuka in an attempt to balance them out but it was much too late.

Rei’s hand shot out, grabbing at Asuka to keep her from falling but she lost her balance anyway and pitched headfirst over the side. The kayak bobbed heavily after her and Rei, with one hand caught in the front of Asuka’s shirt, followed her over. Asuka scrunched her eyes closed but barely had time to take a breath before the cold dark of the water enveloped her.

All she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears. She could feel her hair floating around her in the water, the water tickled. But it was quiet, there were no girls calling Rei names down here. When the burning in her lungs as lack of oxygen started to become a problem she sighed, feeling but not seeing as the bubbles drifted away from her. She didn’t move though. Just continued to float there. And the burning intensified.

Until a hand found hers and suddenly she was being hauled out of the water. Or rather, she was being tugged violently towards the surface and then sort of prodded at the shore. As soon as she felt air sting across her face she sucked in a breath and blinked the water from her eyes, searching for the owner of the hands.

Rei was right in front of her. Like… _Right_ there. Concern filled her wide brown eyes, gaze skating quickly over Asuka as if searching for some sign she was injured. And only _then_ did Asuka realise Rei was still holding her wrist in a vice grip.

“I’m fine,” Asuka told her quietly, using her other hand to wipe hair out of her face.

It took a moment for Rei to respond. “You didn’t come up… I thought…”

“I’m okay,” she reiterated, smiling. “It was quiet.”

In a shocking twist, Rei very nearly looked like she rolled her eyes. A tiny smile even tugged at her lips and Asuka found it incredibly hard not to stare. Though, of course, the moment was ruined.

“Did she touch you, Asuka?”

Rei visibly cringed, and her hand ripped away from Asuka’s like she’d been burned. Asuka looked around, already glaring hot enough to kill but Rei kept her gaze on the water, hands wrung together. It was some other girl who spoke, but Tomone was with her wearing a little smirk.

Asuka clucked her tongue. “Only to help me,” she huffed.

Tomone rolled her eyes. “I bet she tipped the boat on purpose. She didn’t need to lean that far, really.” She propped her ore on the side of the kayak to gesture at Asuka. “Plus… motivation much?” The girl with her giggled but the words were confusing to Asuka until she looked down.

Oh. Right. White shirt. The fabric – now thoroughly soaked – was transparent, exposing her little red bikini top. Her eyes immediately lifted to find Rei.

While Rei’s eyes were still steadfastly fixed on the water off to one side, her face had gone a shade to match Asuka’s swimmers. So… she’d noticed. The idea that Rei had seen this made her cheeks heat. Not in a ‘gross, Rei’s a perve-y lesbian’ way, more of an ‘oh my god, oh my god, oh my god’ incoherent crush kind of way.

Tomone was not privy to her thinking. Clearly she assumed Asuka’s undeniable flush was embarrassment or rage or both. “Ah, she _totally_ flipped the boat to get you wet,” the stupid girl screeched. “Oh my god, what a pervert.” They were talking like Rei wasn’t right there. And could hear them. Anger vibrated between her ribs.

Asuka rolled her eyes and turned away, thankful they had somehow managed to get close to shore before capsizing. Their kayak had bumped its nose into the pier where Ritsuko was now taking care of it. Asuka made a beeline for the shore, wading through the hip high water. And she only turned once when, with a splash, Rei must have caught her toe on something and nearly went under.

She eyed the hand Asuka extended to help her warily but she did take it and held on tight as they stepped onto the shore, feet sinking to their ankles in the wet sand. Rei nearly fell again, suction capturing her shoe in a particularly soggy patch, her other hand came up to grab Asuka’s elbow and steady herself. She let go again hastily, taking a few steps away from Asuka, shuffling over to where they left their bags. Asuka tried not to be bothered by this.

Her eyes tracked Rei for a little bit but then she turned, focusing on the girls in their boats, glad to see they were ignoring her. Ritsuko had tethered the kayak back into its place. The other girls would be out in the afternoon and they’d get to put them away. Suckers.

Absently, Asuka tugged on the collar of her shirt, pulling it around herself, shivering as the soft breeze cut right through the sopping fabric. Sighing, she pulled her hair forwards to wring out as much of the water as she could manage and then decided wearing this stupid wet shirt was way too irritating for her. Plus, everyone could see through it anyway. She told herself it didn’t matter as she tugged it over her head and squeezed some of the water onto the sand.

It was no less cold without it clinging to her. But whatever.

Not a minute later something brushed across her shoulders and she jumped, twisting to see what it was. Rei looked a little worried by her reaction, freezing in place with her eyes widening just slightly. But Asuka immediately relaxed when she realised it was just Rei and she smiled, sliding her arms through the shirt that had been wrapped around her shoulders but she only bothered with one of the buttons.

“Thanks, Rei,” she murmured.

She got a shrug in reply and for a moment nothing else. Rei’s eyes flicked away from her, finding a place somewhere in the trees. Eventually she whispered, “You looked cold.” Colour flickered across her nose and Asuka smiled a little wider.

When Asuka carefully laid herself out on the sand, legs outstretched, toes wiggling in the warm sand, she didn’t expect much. In fact, she would’ve been pretty happy to dry herself off and maybe have a short nap. But very slowly, Rei folded herself down beside her, knees bent up, hands bracing her to the sides. Asuka glanced over at her and even though Rei was staring off into some other dimension where people were hopefully nice to her she was still there. There was sand on her nose, glittering in the sunlight, and her hair had started to dry, curling at the ends as it whispered around her throat.

Asuka’s heart skipped a beat.

She looked away.

 

* * *

 

“Hey.”

Rei did her best ‘deer in the headlights’ impersonation when Asuka hooked a hand into her elbow and steered her towards the other table. She went along with it – thank god – but she looked beyond merely baffled. Actually, she looked like she thought Asuka had gone completely batty.

Still, Asuka walked her over to the end of the table where she usually sat and pointed to the seat on the end. Rei blinked at first the space on the bench and then at Asuka. Her hands tightened around the edges of her paper plate, eyes still a little startled. She did, however, perch delicately on the very end of the wood.

Following suit, Asuka stepped over the bench and sat beside her. This arrangement meant Rei only had to sit next to one person. And Asuka wasn’t about to start calling her names. Sakura and Hikari gave her funny looks but didn’t say anything about it. Asuka was impossibly grateful for their silence; she had no idea how she’d explain this kindness if she was asked.

Incidentally, dinner passed that evening with almost no hateful things being said about Rei (because she was never actually addressed, merely badmouthed). Or well… most of dinner passed without incident. Rei actually got to see other people clear their plates. Though the moment she’d finished with her food she folded her hands in her lap and eyed the door. It was quite possibly the closest Asuka had ever seen her get to _restless_.

And with good reason she supposed. Asuka ignored Rei the entire meal, instead conversing quietly with her friends. For her part, Rei neither spoke nor so much as looked at anyone, no doubt worried that she’d get called a perve again. At length, Rei shuffled off the bench and hurried across the hall to duck outside. Asuka only glanced at her briefly then she returned her attention to Sakura as she recounted their day.

“Why did you let Gay Rei sit with us?” Sakura asked lowly in the middle of talking about crafts.

There is was; the question Asuka couldn’t answer. She rolled her eyes. “Because she doesn’t have any friends, Sakura,” she replied tartly.

“For a _reason_ , Asuka,” Hikari stressed.

Asuka _tched_. “Sure, maybe. But she doesn’t deserve to be called horrible names.”

Sakura’s expression was curious, head tilted to one side as she inspected Asuka. “That’s not like you,” she muttered. “Normally you couldn’t care less when someone’s been hurt.”

With a huff, Asuka shoved away from the table. “Yeah well,” she grumbled. “You don’t have to listen to her cry herself to sleep at night.” And with that she stormed out of the hall.

Outside, she paused to take a deep breath and calm down. It seemed stupid, but Sakura wasn’t wrong. Being nice or considerate or whatever was not something people knew her for. But also Rei hardly deserved what she was getting from these girls. Rage shivered through her chest and she took another breath to steady herself and then set off towards her cabin.

Not two steps from the mess hall she walked around the corner of the building and collided with Shinobu. Asuka caught her balance against the wall and Shinobu took a halting step back. Kame was with her, and once their expressions of surprise faded they were left wearing horrible smiles. Asuka’s eyes narrowed automatically.

“Hey, Langley,” Shinobu drawled.

“What,” she snapped in return, arms folding across her chest unbidden.

Shinobu shrugged, still wearing that goddamn insolent smirk. What a bitch. “Oh not much. Just bumped into your dyke bunk friend. How’s that going by the way? Do you get much sleep?”

Asuka bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just,” she sang, stepping past Asuka heading back towards the hall. “Bet it keeps you up at night. Imagining all the things she could do to you once you fall asleep.”

If she’d been a little braver, Asuka thought maybe decking Shinobu wasn’t such a bad idea. But with Kame there and the way these idiots spread stories it probably was no in her best interest. Her knuckles still tightened as her hands curled into fists but she fixed the best approximation of a smile she could manage onto her face. Seriously. Shinobu with a broken nose though.

“Ha ha. And I bet you stay up late thinking of new ways to insult her, don’t you,” Asuka deadpanned. “Because you have nothing better to do with your time.”

“If I didn’t know better, Langley,” Shinobu mused. “I’d think maybe _you_ were defending the little dyke.”

“Good thing you know better,” she replied frostily. Her fingernails bit into her palm and Asuka wondered if she’d draw blood yet.

Shinobu merely laughed, threw a casual wave over her shoulder and stepped into the hall again. Asuka felt ill. Physically ill.

And then she remembered Shinobu mentioning Rei and her blood ran cold. If she maybe picked up her pace on the way back to the cabin well… it was a chilly evening. No biggie. Didn’t mean she was concerned or anything. How ridiculous.

She slowed at the steps up into their cabin, brows furrowing in confusion. There was… glitter paint on the wood planks? Really? Why? Her fingers met the rough surface of the door and pressed it in carefully.

There was a soft sound coming from inside but it stuttered to silence when the hinges creaked. A bucket rolled slightly when the door bumped it, more glitter paint sparkled on the inside and spilled from the lip across the floor. Dozens of little coloured faux-feathers stuck in the paint ruffled with the breeze. A hollow feeling opened up in Asuka’s stomach and all her organs plunged through it with a horrible lurch. That sick feeling from before welled up in the void and Asuka stepped carefully through the doorway.

The unmistakable sound of sniffling filled the quiet as Asuka closed the door and tiptoed around the spilled paint. She found Rei in the back room, sitting in her pyjamas in the corner by the cupboard with a bucket of filthy water. Her shoulders were hunched forward and her face tucked into her knees, she shook as she cried, her whole body trembling with her soft sobs. Her hair sparkled with glitter paint and rainbow feathers. She must have showered straight after dinner, getting in early tonight. Asuka could only figure that Shinobu had put the bucket up so when Rei – post shower and clean – got back she was doused. How rude.

Asuka felt her shoulders slump and she knelt beside Rei, lifting a hand to rest it on her arm. Rei twitched away. Asuka swallowed past a lump in her throat. She could feel her heart stuttering in her chest echoing along with Rei’s tears, but she had no idea what to do.

She shuffled closer tentatively until her shoulder bumped against Rei’s and then very slowly wrapped her arms around her. Rei’s breath hitched but her crying didn’t stop. She just turned her face into Asuka’s arm.

“Let me help,” Asuka whispered. She ran a hand through Rei’s hair, feathers coming free with each stroke of her fingers. All of them she dropped into the bucket.

“Why?” Rei asked, her voice hoarse and tiny and scared.

Again, Asuka had no answer. No _real_ answer anyway. “Just let me, okay?”

Rei sucked in a shaky breath, her shoulders still trembling against Asuka. And as she tugged a few more feathers free of the drying paint, Rei’s fingers wound into Asuka’s shirt and she sighed. The tacky paint had clumped Rei’s hair together and Asuka could only assume it stung when it pulled at her scalp but not once was a complaint voiced.

At length, Asuka had the last of the feathers removed and she leaned away from Rei, grabbing the bucket. “Let me refill this, alright? Then we’ll get the paint out of your hair.”

Rei didn’t move. Not when Asuka pulled away, not when she stood, nor while she paused in the doorway to look at Rei, feeling like nothing had ever hurt quite this much. And she was still there when Asuka returned, clean water in hand.

She dipped a wash cloth into the water and wet Rei’s hair, very slowly working the paint out. After a moment, Rei lifted her eyes to stare at Asuka’s face. She looked… wary, terrified maybe. Like she thought this whole thing was some huge prank and the other shoe would drop any second now. The idea that perhaps Rei thought Asuka was setting her up for a fall panged low in her chest.

“Rei,” she whispered, not expecting a reply so much as an acknowledgement that she’d been heard. She didn’t get anything, but continued anyway. “Are you alright?”

That time, Rei blinked, shock flickering behind her eyes. She bobbed her head. But her eyes darted away.

The fingers of Asuka’s free hand found Rei’s chin, tilting her to look back at her. “Really,” she pressed. “I want to know.”

Confliction danced in Rei’s features, torn between wanting to believe Asuka and not being brave enough to risk it. Asuka smiled sadly, but inside her heart was shattered. Rei didn’t respond. Not for a long time. Asuka had just about gotten all of the paint out of her hair before anything happened. (Though the glitter was another story.)

“Thank you,” Rei whispered. “Asuka.”

Her hands stilled and Asuka glanced back down at her, smiling softly. She got the distinct impression that Rei had been staring at her for a while. “It’s no worries,” she replied, voice catching under Rei’s gaze.

At length, Asuka decided she’d gotten as much of the paint out as was possible and she stood, back cracking. She dropped the cloth in the bucket – filthy again – and sighed. Rei was no longer looking at her, instead finding something engrossing in the grain of the wood floor. Asuka bent over again, taking Rei’s hands and drawing her to her feet.

“Come on,” she muttered, stepping back towards the other room and pulling Rei with her. “Get some sleep.”

Rei looked like maybe she was going to cry again though Asuka had no idea why. Instead of risk it, she tugged Rei closer and hugged her, tucking her face into her shoulder. Rei didn’t reciprocate, just stood there like a puppet with its strings cut. At least, until Asuka felt something scared and warm settle softly on the small of her back. She smiled into Rei’s shirt and squeezed her.

Then Rei was stepping away and climbing into bed. Asuka watched her wrap herself up in the sheets and turn her face to the wall. Then she shook herself, and turned back to her things.

“I’m going to shower,” she said quietly. “I’ll knock three times when I get back, okay?”

Rei didn’t reply.

And she was asleep when Asuka got back, cheeks damp with tears.


	4. Day Four

Rei still had glitter in her hair, just as Asuka had suspected. Unfortunately, they were in a group with Shinobu and her cronies too, and they found it _hilarious_ apparently, tittering away about how Rei’s hair was ‘as gay as her now’. Asuka sincerely hoped she had a chance to do something horrible to Shinobu during the day’s events. Like maybe knock a few of her teeth out.

Asuka eyed the obstacle course in front of her, evaluating it for places where lessons might be taught to Shinobu. Again, she wondered how this was supposed to encourage leadership. Teamwork sure, maybe, there were places where obviously they’d need assistance to get past. But leadership? Whatever, there was a rope wall on the far side; it might serve a purpose.

“Alright, girls,” Misato sang. “So this is a two part challenge. You only have to do the obstacle course before lunch, and then after that there are some team building exercises that I just know you’ll all love.” She clapped her hands together. “Staggered entries please; groups of four at a time. Who’s first?”

After a short glance around at the other girls, Asuka stepped forward. If she went first at least there was less chance she’d be in a position to break Shinobu’s face. Maybe. Sakura and Hikari were both in this group too and they followed her towards the course. In a surprising twist, Rei also joined them. Asuka hadn’t thought she would. Though honestly, Asuka was sort of surprised she’d even gotten out of bed that morning.

Misato nodded and they stepped onto the course. It was pretty straight forward really. A few walls they had to clamber over, some mud they’d have to crawl through, one of those balance beams, the kind of thing Asuka would expect to see at a boot camp, truthfully. There was even a tire field they had to jump through. How nice.

“This doesn’t look so hard,” Hikari muttered, hopping out into the tires. “Pretty easy, actually.”

“We’ll see,” Sakura hedged.

But it was Rei who skipped ahead of them. Asuka watched her weave her way deftly through the tires in not even a minute. She wanted to follow, but instead let herself fall back with her friends. She did keep half an eye on Rei’s progress though. The way she scuttled up the plank wall and dropped to the other side with no assistance at all was pretty impressive.

By the time they’d cleared the tires, Rei was nearly half-way through the course. Asuka thought maybe she had misunderstood the idea of it but that’s okay. She was good to watch. And really, Asuka couldn’t blame her for wanting to get it over with.

“Asuka!”

Hikari tripped out of the last tire and cannoned into her, nearly throwing her into the wall.

“Not so hard, huh?” Asuka teased, rolling her eyes.

“Shut up. How fast do you think you could clear it without help?”

Asuka lifted a finger to point at Rei who was already climbing swiftly up the rope wall near the end. “I think I could do at least that well,” she laughed.

Both of her friends blinked, dumbstruck at Rei’s progress. Clearly they didn’t understand how motivating name-calling could be. Sakura hummed as they watched Rei slip over the top of the rope and pop out down the bottom on the other side; finished with the course.

“Well…” Hikari huffed. “That was fast.”

“You’re just slow,” Asuka threw back. “Come on. Let’s get over this stupid wall.”

And wasn’t _that_ a trial. Oh, Asuka made it to the top just fine; perhaps not as smoothly as Rei had, but she did it without any help from her friends. But hauling them up after her was arguably the hardest thing she’d done all week. Arguably. If she discounted Rei’s crying.

Then there was a log leaning across a steeply sided ditch for them to wobble across. Asuka knew to keep her centre of gravity low and move quickly, light steps, arms out. She made it over with little trouble. Sakura kept low; sure, she just about crawled across. Asuka rolled her eyes and turned away, waiting for her friends to catch her before moving on. Rei was standing off to one side, shoulders hunched, eyes trained on Asuka.

She felt her cheeks heat when she realised Rei was studying her so she looked away, turning back to monitor Hikari’s progress. But she could still feel Rei’s eyes and it made her skin tingle, warmth rising across the back of her neck. She tried not to think about it.

They waded through the ditch full of mud after that, with much complaining from Hikari. And then there were inexplicable monkey bars and another exercise in balance, this time in the form of some raised beams. They had to jump across some of those which was exciting. To watch at least, if Rei was half as amused as Asuka when Sakura toppled off the same beam three times in a row then that was something good to come out of the event. Following that was an uphill tunnel, a slide down the other side and then a little run of padded poles that jutted at strange angles reminding Asuka of some sort of deformed hedgehog.

The penultimate task was a series of progressively higher hurdles. Clearly they were supposed to go over them but the way Hikari in particular was wheezing she had a feeling that wouldn’t happen. Fall over them… maybe.

“You guys are so slow.”

Asuka groaned as she turned to see who’d spoken, already knowing the answer. Sure enough, Shinobu had just stepped past the last of the hedgehog posts. Kame and Nanami weren’t far behind her and the fourth girl… Asuka thought it was Kura, but she was still mired in the posts so she couldn’t tell for sure. Either way Asuka was beginning to feel like maybe she should label these blockheads her nemesis and move on with life. She bristled obviously as her glare came to rest on Shinobu.

She didn’t have anything to say though. Can’t argue with the facts and all. So Asuka settled for clenching her fists and hoping Shinobu would melt under the heat of her gaze.

No such luck.

And Shinobu turned, her hateful smirk widening just a little and it took Asuka a second to realise she was looking at Rei. Her eyes followed. Rei was still watching them.

“Hey, little dyke,” Shinobu called. “Enjoying the view are you? Gets you going, huh?” She lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers. “Had to get through fast so you could perve on us, right? And I bet you put Asuka’s name on your sheet just so you could bunk with her! Tag along to all the same events!”

Her friends burst out in cackles but Asuka was just mortified by their words. It was like something heavy had settled around her ears, drowning out their raucous laughter. She could hear blood thunder in her ears, hear the way her breath caught in her lungs, and all she could see was Rei. From this distance she had no idea what the expression was on her face but she could assume. Horror, anguish, hurt. The moment seemed to stand still for a moment. Distant laughter, over loud heartbeat, and the tortured expression on Rei’s face.

Then Shinobu bumped her and the tableau shattered. Rei shifted and vanished into the trees. Asuka’s eyes followed her but there was nothing she could do. Vaguely she thought she heard Misato’s voice but she couldn’t be sure, her priorities scrambled together into a course of action.

Shinobu and her cronies had already started across the hurdles when Asuka refocused on them. Oh it was _on_. No longer concerned about Hikari and Sakura, she vaulted the half dozen wooden beams with ease and wound her hand into the rope wall on the other side. Shinobu had already started to climb but Asuka was stronger, fitter, more prepared for the exertion of it.

Once she’d made it nearly to the top she paused, hooking one arm into the mesh and hanging from it. Shinobu’s friends were standing at the bottom when Asuka looked down, watching them climb, obviously this had turned into some sort of race for them. Asuka was thinking more along the lines of _revenge_.

Shinobu passed halfway on the rope and Asuka shifted her weight just slightly. The rope rocked as she jerked on it, her grip slipped somewhat and when she adjusted herself the entire wall shook. Beneath the rope, the wooden supports creaked and shook. The whole structure juddered and while Asuka was prepared for it, Shinobu clearly wasn’t.

Her fingers couldn’t hold on through the swaying and she shrieked as she slipped. When she realised she was falling – a good three feet – her voice took on a strident warble, clearly distressed. The sound cut off abruptly when her butt hit the dirt at the foot of the wall and she gasped. She looked a little dumbstruck, staring up at Asuka with a pale face.

Asuka grinned down at her and scuttled up the last of the rope before sliding down the other side. She paused, contemplating saying something snarky to Shinobu. But then she remembered the look that had been on Rei’s face and she changed her mind.

Misato had finally reached their end of the course and was peering at Shinobu with concern. Asuka didn’t even break stride as she went past.

“I’m going to find Rei,” she grouched. Misato twisted to look at her but Asuka didn’t know if she replied. Didn’t care. Whether or not she had permission she was going.

The trees closed around her and it would’ve been so easy to believe that just because she couldn’t see or hear Shinobu that the bitch didn’t exist. But she did and Rei was missing. Asuka had no idea how to track her progress so she just wandered, eyes raking through the boughs trying to pick out any hint of where Rei might have gone.

It seemed like an impossible task, really. How could she ever hope to find one girl in the vastness of these woods? There was no way…

She pressed on anyway.

And honestly, even though it felt like hours, it probably only took her maybe ten or fifteen minutes before she heard the soft – and painfully familiar – sound of Rei crying. Asuka froze, feet rooted to the spot like just another tree. She listened, trying to figure out which direction the sound was coming from, and once she’d decided she raced off the mark, breezing beneath the branches until she spotted Rei curled up at the base of a tree.

She slowed her approach, stepping cautiously across the leaves. Rei sniffled but didn’t look at her and tentatively, Asuka crouched beside her, one hand reaching out for her shoulder but never quite touching, dancing above the fabric of her shirt as she gauged how the contact would be received. Eventually Asuka let her fingers settle there gently. Rei flinched, twitching beneath the touch but she didn’t quite pull away, just turned her face into her arm, hair falling across her and shielding her expression from Asuka.

“Rei,” she asked softly. “Rei are you alright?”

“No.” The word was sharp, unusual for her; it had a hint of bite to it. “Obviously not.” She hiccupped around the last word and Asuka sank down, leaning against the tree beside her.

“Obviously,” she repeated. “Shinobu’s a bitch, you know.”

Rei just sniffed, pointedly ignoring her.

Asuka sighed. They lapsed into silence. Well… silence except for the continued sobbing anyway.

Eventually, Rei mumbled, “Just go.”

“I’m not leaving you alone in the woods, don’t be silly.”

More silence.

And then, “They’re right.”

Asuka blinked, stunned. “Um…?” Somehow she hoped Rei understood how that was a question. She had no idea how to phrase it without sound insensitive. Truly, ‘which bit’ no matter how she worded it would come off as horrible. So she left it at… um.

“I did write your name down,” Rei eventually clarified around her tears, voice watery and thin.

“Oh.” For the longest moment that was all Asuka had to say in response. Rei’s shoulders tensed again, hunching a little higher around her ears. So that wasn’t adequate as a reply. “Well… I wrote your name down too, you know?”

Nothing was said. Not for ages. The wind picked up a little, blowing more harshly through the leaves than before and bringing a swift chill with it. Through the leaves above them, dark clouds scudded across the sky, pooling nearby in a nasty green cauldron. Another storm clearly brewing in the depths. The light that had dappled pleasantly across the carpet of leaf litter earlier faded into something much more ominous.

At last, Rei’s sobs stuttered to a stop and she turned to watch Asuka. In her periphery, Asuka could see when she scrubbed at the tear tracks across her cheeks, the bags beneath her eyes, the red rims circling her eyes. She looked… weary. And fearful. Yes, she definitely still thought Asuka was in on some bad joke at her expense. Asuka didn’t know how to convince her otherwise. Patience had never been a virtue she practiced and simply waiting – persisting – didn’t seem like it was working.

Asuka’s head lolled sideways across the tree and she offered Rei a tiny smile. Rei sniffed again. She didn’t smile in return but Asuka hadn’t expected her to. She didn’t have much to be smiling about.

“Looks like we’re getting another storm,” Asuka murmured.

Rei nodded.

“Do you want to go back to the cabin?”

Hesitantly, Rei nodded again. Though she looked like maybe what she really wanted was to walk into the lake and never resurface.

“Okay.” Asuka levered herself to her feet and offered a hand for Rei. It took a long moment before it was taken and when Asuka pulled her up the first thing Rei did was wrench her hand away and take two short steps back. It stung; a whiplash pang low in Asuka’s gut. But she didn’t mention it. She set off slowly through the trees.

And Rei followed.

 

* * *

 

Rei’s hair was _still_ glittery even after she’d showered. They’d both done that early, telling Misato that Rei felt ill and Asuka was going to make sure she was taken care of had been a brilliant stroke to get them out of the afternoon’s activities. Though it’d probably come back to bite them both on the butt later. At the time it had seemed advisable. It even meant Asuka had been allowed to take their dinner back to the cabin so Rei didn’t have to walk through the rain.

Because of _course_ , after some groaning and grumbling, the sky had creaked open and big fat droplets had been pelting the roof of the cabin since about three o’clock. Asuka didn’t have an umbrella either which was just _fabulous_. So she sat shivering on the floor wrapped up in a spare blanket after returning with their evening meal. Rei remained seated on the sofa in the back room, earphones in, pretending the rest of the world (and all her problems, no doubt) didn’t exist.

Asuka’s teeth chattered in spite of the hot shower she’d had and she exhaled. Her whole body ached; she could only imagine what it’d be like in the morning. After this stupid camp week was over she was going to hibernate for a month. At least a month. Maybe even two.

She ran her fingers through her hair, glad to feel it had dried. With another heavy sigh she lurched to her feet. All of her joints complained this so it was with much relief that she flopped onto her bed, pulling the sheets over her shoulders. Her eyes felt leaded down so she didn’t fight when they slipped closed.

She didn’t sleep though.

Asuka lay awake for ages; probably hours. She stopped shivering, the blankets warming around her nicely. Rei shuffled into the room sometime after that. Asuka didn’t open her eyes, but she felt as Rei tucked her things away and settled onto her bed. Then there was nothing but silence. Except for the rain drumming steadily on the roof above them.

Later, a long while later, Asuka finally opened her grainy eyes; apparently unable to sleep with that foggy feeling in her chest. She watched Rei instead, the way her shoulders moved as she breathed, the way the loose collar of her pyjama shirt slipped across her neck. Rei’s back was mostly to Asuka, her blankets down around her feet regardless of the cold. Asuka blinked blearily.

“Rei.” Her voice was quiet, almost drowned out by the rain. Her mouth was dry; and the words sounded kind of raspy. “Are you really gay?”

Asuka thought maybe she saw Rei’s shoulders tense a little but there was no other reaction to her tired question so perhaps she’d just imagined it. What had she expected anyway? That Rei would honestly reply to that? Fat chance. Not with how those dumb girls treated her. Asuka wouldn’t want anyone to know that about her either.

She sighed and slipped out of bed, toes curling against the cool of the floor. Two paces across the room to Rei and then she was staring down at her bunkmate. Same as the last few nights, Rei’s cheeks were tearstained, but she looked asleep. Before it really clicked what she was doing, Asuka brushed the backs of her fingers across Rei’s face, wiping away the last of her tears and sweeping hair out of the way. For a long moment, she let her hand rest on Rei’s cool cheek, wishing for something other than this. Her heart thudded agonisingly in her ribs.

Swiping her thumb once more across Rei’s cheek, she lifted the sheets and tucked them around her chin. More words fell out then, words maybe Asuka would’ve held back if she’d been well rested.

“It’d kind of suck if you weren’t gay, honestly.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Asuka leaned over and pressed her lips to Rei’s forehead. Just for a second. But for that second she could imagine the _more_ she so ached for.

Then she stumbled back to her bed and bundled herself up again. And sleep wasn’t so elusive that time. Thank god.


	5. Day Five

The next morning was another washout. Above them, rain drummed a steady beat on the roof and the sky remained so dark even at midday it could’ve been twilight. Asuka braved the downpour in the early morning (breakfast was important to her) but Misato had sighed and cancelled their events for the day and since then she’d just been sitting on the top bunk of her bed staring out the window. She’d kind of been looking forward to doing archery, honestly. Though admittedly that had come with the risk of her putting an arrow through Shinobu’s leg. So… probably best that it was cancelled.

Rei, on the other hand, had shifted from her bed to the couch in the back room and hadn’t moved since. As far as Asuka knew, she’d eaten breakfast and then settled the plate on the floor by her feet, stuffed her earphones and and fallen straight back to sleep. At least, she hadn’t made a single sound, hadn’t moved, hadn’t done anything. If Asuka hadn’t been electrically aware of her presence in the cabin she might’ve forgotten Rei altogether.

And wouldn’t that just be a _crime_.

She sighed, letting her head fall forward until it rested against the glass. Her breath misted against the surface, fogging it up until the world outside could’ve been some strange dream-like parody of a fantasyscape. All that was needed was a knight to come riding by on a valiant white steed in search of a princess or something.

Asuka’s fingers skittered across the glass, sketching horrible likenesses of things through the mist. A few lopsided flowers, something that might pass for a dragon if she squinted, a collective of hearts. The moisture displaced beneath her fingers pooled together and trickled down the glass, cutting through her images like tears.

She watched the drips distort her doodles for another few moments and only looked up because of the banging on the hut door. She blinked, confused, as she twisted away from the window to see who it was. Obviously she couldn’t see though, the door being solid wood and all that.

With another huff, she slid off the top bunk and stumbled over to tug the door in a little ways. Depending on who it was would dictate whether or not she even wanted to see their dumb faces. She kept her eyes narrowed as she peered out but huffed a little when she realised it was just Sakura and Hikari.

Both of them looked like drowned rats, hair all stuck to their heads and dripping onto the wood floor. They were, however, also smiling. Hikari even offered her a silly little wave.

“What’s up?” Asuka asked, trying to put a little enthusiasm into her tone.

Sakura lifted up a deck of cards. “Thought maybe you’d like a little wet-weather entertainment,” she laughed.

“Also,” Hikari added. “Misato sent everyone from our cabin around telling folks that they opened up the craft hut if we would rather do that.”

“And maybe there would be movies,” Sakura tacked on at the end. “Because really, what kind of weather is this for camp week?”

Asuka rolled her eyes. “Uh, the _best_ kind, clearly. My shoulders still hurt from yesterday.” Her friends both laughed as she stepped aside to let them in. “You sure you want to even be here?” she wondered, frowning as they tracked wet prints across the floor. Not that it was her floor, so really what did she care?

Hikari lifted an eyebrow in askance. “Sure. Why wouldn’t we want to keep  you company?”

Unbidden, Asuka’s eyes flicked to the back room and her voice pitched low even though Rei probably wouldn’t hear over the music. “R… Ayanami is here.” And she couldn’t _quite_ keep the bitterness from her voice as she said it. Though the tone was for her friend’s and their attitude they probably expected it was for Rei. “Wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.” And if the door banged shut a little louder than necessary well… she couldn’t help it.

Sakura shrugged, but it was Hikari who spoke. “All the more reason for us to be here. Don’t want you being stuck alone with her all day, do we?” She grinned as she said it.

Asuka had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying something she’d regret later.

She sucked in a deep breath to steady herself and stepped around her friends heading for the back room. “She’s not so bad.”

She stuck her head through the arch as Sakura asked quietly, “Has she tried anything?”

Rei’s eyes were closed, she was curled into a ball at one end of the sofa hugging a pillow to her chest. Earphones in still, her breathing was steady and in a first, there were no tears on her face. Asuka smiled at her softly and grabbed one of the extra blankets from the cupboard before spreading it out and tucking it around Rei to keep her warm. Rei’s expression shifted just slightly at the contact and she sighed something Asuka couldn’t interpret. But she looked just a little less sad. It was really cute, honestly.

When she turned back to her friends she found they’d dragged one of the little tables in between the two bunks. They were seated on the bottom beds – thankfully with towels folded beneath their wet butts – and Hikari was shuffling the cards like she worked at a Las Vegas Twenty-One table. They continued to look at her expectantly.

“What kind of something?” Asuka asked, sitting beside Sakura on Rei’s bed. (Not at all because it meant she could see Rei through the archway. Of course not. Absurd.)

Sakura just shrugged. “I don’t know. Emiko said she tried to touch you the other day while you were kayaking…”

“Emiko’s a twat,” Asuka opined sharply. “She helped me out of the lake after our boat tipped. And _that_ only happened because Tomone is _also_ a twat.” She huffed again.

“Alright.” Sakura held up her hands in the universal ‘I surrender’ gesture. “Just repeating what I was told. So long as she hasn’t been… creepy with you, right?”

“Okay,” Asuka sighed. “No, she’s been fine. A perfectly polite and reasonable bunkmate.”

Sakura nodded, accepting that, thank goodness. “Good then. Oh,” and it was like she’d forgotten this important piece of information earlier. “Also, there is a bonfire tonight if the rain allows it.”

“Um… why?” Asuka laughed.

“What’s camp without a bonfire?” Hikari put in. Which… yes okay, fair point. “So what are we playing?”

“Bullshit,” Asuka decided unilaterally. Might be nice to work out a bit of her anger in a card game. She couldn’t pull a muscle doing that.

“Bullshit it is,” Hikari agree, dealing out the cards with practiced flicks of her wrists.

Asuka was not good at Bullshit. She got too emotional about it and her reactions always gave her away. But if Asuka was bad at Bullshit, her friends were both _hopeless_.

“Oh my god!” Hikari flipped Asuka’s cards and pulled a face. “How did you have all four kings? That’s not fair.”

“Pick ‘em up, Horaki,” Asuka laughed, waving at the impressive stack of cards on the table while waving her two remaining ones triumphantly.

“You have got to be cheating!” Hikari cried, sorting through her newly acquired half-deck. “Also, Suzuhara, I see you putting down not even one of the cards you said you had.”

Sakura just beamed at her. Asuka leaned back a little to peer into the back room, hoping Hikari’s enthused declamations hadn’t woken Rei. But she was still curled up beneath the blanket with a more peaceful expression on her face than Asuka had ever seen.

“Alright then, Langley,” Hikari, grumbled, still arranging her cards nicely. “What do you say to three fours?”

“I say,” Asuka hummed, glancing again at her two cards to make sure they were still what she thought. “Sakura gets a turn before me so…”

Hikari rolled her eyes and Sakura giggled, but she did also play it safe with one whole five. And it honestly must have been a five because Asuka didn’t have any and Hikari – frowning at her handful of cards – didn’t speak, so she didn’t have all of the fives.

Asuka then, very slowly placed her two cards on top of the little pile and said, “Two sixes.”

“Bull! Shit!” Hikari hollered. But when Asuka merely smiled and waved for her to pick up the cards and checked she faltered. Her fingers lifted first one… then the other and she groaned. “No way, that’s bullshit.”

Asuka laughed. “Yes, that is what we just played.”

“Ugh. I demand a rematch!”

“Asuka?”

They all looked up at the soft voice. Asuka’s eyes widened when she saw Rei standing in the doorway, still wrapped in the blanket, clutching it across her chest with one hand while the other rubbed slowly across her eyes. She didn’t seem quite aware of her surrounding just yet and as she stifled a gentle yawn a warm feeling bloomed in Asuka’s stomach.

“Where did the blanket come–?” Rei’s question trailed off when she when she realised Asuka wasn’t alone. “Oh.” She blinked at them, taking in the card game Hikari was in the process of starting over. “Sorry.” She turned to shuffle back into the other room.

“Ayanami?” Asuka called softly. “You feeling okay?”

Rei’s shoulders tensed, face guarded as she twisted. “Fine.” The word was cold and clipped.

She left the room, though Asuka could see when she curled back up onto the couch and pressed her face into a pillow, clearly breathing very deeply into the fabric. (Asuka didn’t know how advisable that was, who knew when those cushions had last been washed but whatever. Not a thought that should get priority.)

And Asuka thought it was pretty rude that Rei didn’t even put her earphones back in before Hikari asked, “Why did you ask her that?” Like wow. So rude.

Asuka clucked her tongue. “Because she wasn’t feeling well yesterday and I wanted to make sure? Why does anyone ask that question? Do you know how annoying it would be to have a roommate who was sick and throwing up?”

Sakura rolled her eyes but Hikari just bobbed her head; neither could argue with her sound logic. Though it did send a strange shivering chill down her spine, something sad and fearful she couldn’t place. In the other room, Rei’s shoulders curled forward as she did that thing like she was trying to become so small she disappeared. The sorrow coiled a little tighter.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about any more awkward conversation. More banging slammed into the door and the three of them jumped as they looked around, falling into nervous laughter when they realised they’d all had the same reaction. The door crashed inwards spilling Hanako into the room, she too was dripping wet, though not as badly as Hikari and Sakura had been earlier. Behind her, the rain looked to be letting up. It had only taken most of the damn day.

“Hey,” Hanako huffed. “Misato said we’re having dinner at the bonfire tonight because the weather is clearing up. She wants you two,” she jabbed a finger first at Sakura and then Hikari, “to come help but she said Langley could stay here. She doesn’t want Ayanami left alone if she’s sick.”

And with that, she whirled back out into the drizzle. The door creaked slowly shut behind her, the click lost in the patter on the roof. Silence followed her exit for a long beat and then Sakura sighed.

“I guess we’re going then,” she mumbled, standing.

Hikari followed her up slowly, shuffling the cards into a tidy pile with practiced hands before stuffing them back into the case. While she was busy with that, Sakura tugged on the table and Asuka hurried to help her shift it back to its proper place. The feet squealed against the wood so they had to pick it up and move it lest the nails-on-chalkboard sound drive them insane. That done, they reluctantly stepped back outside.

“You come to the bonfire if you can, yeah?” Sakura checked.

Asuka wrinkled her nose. “I probably shouldn’t leave Ayanami alone. Misato will kill me.”

Hikari waved a hand to brush away her words. “Forget her. Get your butt to the bonfire. There will be marshmallows!”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.” But she grinned at them as her friends trotted down the stairs and back out into the weather. Once they’d disappeared past the next cabin though she was hurrying back inside.

Rei hadn’t moved. She still had her face buried in the pillow, shoulders up around her ears, knees bent towards her chest, breathing suspiciously even as if she were fighting back tears. Very slowly, Asuka stepped into the room and sat on the edge of the chair beside her. Rei twitched but made no other indication that she was aware of Asuka’s presence.

“Rei,” she began softly, voice strained. “I really wanted to know, okay? Are you feeling alright?”

She could tell from the way Rei’s shoulders shifted that she sucked in a deeper than normal breath and heaved it back out into the pillow. Not much of an answer but in its own silent way it told Asuka everything she needed. Tentatively, Asuka reached out and let her fingers curl around Rei’s knee.

“You can talk to me.”

“No.” Even though muffled by the cushion that one syllable was sharp.

Asuka didn’t know what to say. “Would you like to go to the bonfire?”

And that, finally, got Rei to lift her head. Not far, just enough that she could fix Asuka with the single best ‘are you serious’ look in the history of the world. It wasn’t even hampered by the red around Rei’s eyes, because yes, she had been crying into the pillow.

“We don’t have to stay long,” Asuka wheedled. “But you need to eat and you never know. It might be fun. Please? For me?”

Something wavered across Rei’s face. Hesitation, fear, something that Asuka loosely interpreted as having found a pressure point, something that could be exploited and flashed across her face in an instant. She didn’t know _what_ she’d said that had prompted that look but it was scary. Her fingers tightened on Rei’s knee and she flinched under the pressure.

Rei remained silent, her gaze resolving into something stubborn and then she tucked her nose back into the cushion. So Asuka stood with a quiet sigh and squeezed Rei’s knee one final time before going back into the other room. She collapsed onto the bottom bunk and stared at the wood panels above her for a long time. She didn’t know how much time passed; the sky outside the window didn’t seem to change, either. It had been dark all day; there wasn’t much indication between the overcast and the sun setting. Though the rain did finally peter out, so that was something.

Asuka flopped onto her stomach to get a better view out the window, watching the leaves sway and drip with the last of the rain. She could hear the other girls through the wood, hollering about the bonfire, and after a few minutes, she could smell the smoke too. Maybe she could go and grab marshmallows and bring them back. Would Rei even appreciate that? She sighed and let her face fall to the sheets. Stupid crush was the worst thing in the world.

Her heart stuttered in her chest, unprepared for that thought to cross her mind, acknowledgement of the reason her stomach felt like goo whenever Rei looked at her.

She was even less prepared to hear, “I don’t want to be the reason you don’t go to the bonfire,” muttered in little more than a whisper by her left shoulder.

Asuka jumped in fright, head whipping around to find Rei standing there. So she propped herself up on her elbows, heart beating much too fast. Rei’s face was closed off still, eyes a little less bleary, shoulders slack and yet still somehow turned in to make her seem so very small and fragile.

“I know why you don’t want to go, Rei,” Asuka replied. “I get it. They’re horrible.”

Rei’s soft expression practically screamed ‘then why ask me to go’ but Asuka ignored it. She waited a few more beats to see if more would be added. Nothing happened. Eventually, Rei shrugged and turned away.

“We don’t have to stay long,” Asuka assured her. “Just grab something to eat and we’ll come back. Okay?”

In spite of nodding her head dejectedly, Asuka suspected Rei didn’t believe a word she’d just said. Maybe didn’t believe a word she’d _ever_ said. She dithered for a second before standing, encroaching on Rei’s personal space perhaps a little more than she needed to. And the shock flickering briefly on Rei’s face confirmed this. Still, Asuka’s fingers danced hesitantly and then she reached out and pulled Rei into a hug.

It didn’t last long, not even two Mississippi, not long enough for Rei to do more than flinch at the contact. Then Asuka was pulling away and offering her a tiny smile. She paused again then, but not for quite as long and when she moved, it was to take one of Rei’s hands in hers and tug her gently towards the door.

The fact that Rei let her hold her hand counted as a gigantic success in Asuka’s opinion. Or at least, while no one could see. As soon as they stepped into view of those gathered around the bonfire, Rei’s hand slipped away with a jerky movement and she fell back a few steps. Asuka paused to wait for her, but Rei was busy staring at her feet, reluctance evident in every line of her body.

When she realised Asuka had stopped for her, Rei’s eyes widened slightly in obvious surprise. She did slouch closer and when Asuka sat on one of the logs around the blaze Rei followed suit, settling very close to both the edge and Asuka. She looked ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.

Asuka just smiled uncertainly at her and grabbed some of the skewers from a nearby stump and threaded marshmallows onto the ends. It was surprisingly quiet around them, girls muttering, sure, but no one had called attention to them yet which was odd. Asuka watched the others as she went about her task. A few girls glanced their way but nothing was said. Weird. Maybe Misato had said something.

Rei’s eyes were fixed on her when she leaned back, pressing one of the sticks into her hand. Asuka stuck hers out over the flame, turning it slowly so it cooked nicely, but Rei merely cradled hers in her lap, eyes downcast. The skewer hung limp from her fingers as if she didn’t know what to do with it.

Carefully, Asuka extended a hand and wrapped her fingers around Rei’s wrist, guiding her towards the fire. “You’re supposed to cook them,” she explained softly.

She could feel Rei’s eyes on her face but elected to overlook that. “I know,” Rei admitted. But she didn’t pull away from Asuka’s touch.

So of course Asuka looked over at her, their eyes meeting. And of course Asuka’s heart did that stupid thing where it started beating irregularly and way too fast and the air got stuck in her lungs and it was all very distracting. Her marshmallow would probably burn at this rate, but she couldn’t look away. Rei was mesmerising.

The way the fire played across her face and sparkled on the glitter still stuck in her hair and turned her eyes all different colours of the rainbow. Again, Asuka considered the possibility that Rei was some ethereal being who didn’t even belong on the earth with them. She sucked in a shaky breath but still couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“I see you decided not to stay cooped up with the dyke.”

And that was the moment _ruined_. Asuka turned then, a glare fully formed before she’d even found Shinobu to direct it at her. Her words had been quiet though, careful and measured. Maybe Misato _had_ said something to them, there was no way Shinobu would be so cautious otherwise.

“Maybe I was hungry,” Asuka retorted.

Shinobu snorted. “Sure.” She leaned in closer, like she was imparting some sort of conspiracy. “And I see she’s got you right where she wants you. Close enough to get some sick satisfaction out of contact.”

Rei’s hand jerked away, her marshmallow hitting the dirt. Clearly she’d heard Shinobu’s words. Asuka burned (metaphorically), wanting to check on Rei, but too busy glaring at Shinobu.

“You couldn’t stay in your hole, could you?” Shinobu’s words were aimed at Rei, and her dangerous eyes drifted away from Asuka towards her target. “You had to come out here and ruin everything. Don’t you get enough creeping in while Asuka’s asleep? You’ve gotta bother the rest of us too?”

Beside her, Rei moved, lurching to her feet and nearly tripping into the fire. When Asuka finally managed to turn away from Shinobu and stare up at her, there was nothing but accusation in her eyes. Hurt and sorrow and ‘how could you do this’ and ‘I knew it’ and ‘you’re just like the rest of them’. It all flickered on her face with the firelight and she looked like some wounded and ancient deity. And Asuka’s mouth fell open at all that emotion where Rei was usually so stoic. She couldn’t find the words to explain though, couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat.

Rei fled, disappearing into the dark.

Asuka watched the space she’d been for a long moment. And when Shinobu laughed she looked down. Her marshmallow was burned.

Angrily she stood, tossing it – skewer and all – into the fire. She turned her rage on Shinobu but somehow managed not to heave her into the flames after it. For her part, Shinobu looked honestly at a loss by the expression on Asuka’s face.

“This isn’t funny,” she managed to grind out between her teeth. And just barely she restrained herself from kicking that stupid smirk through Shinobu’s teeth.

Silence had fallen around the bonfire; obviously everyone had seen their little exchange so Asuka glared at all of them too, her anger sweeping across them all equally. All of them. Even Sakura and Hikari standing on the other side looking dumbstruck.

Then she whirled and marched off towards her cabin. She stormed across the grass, a pale reflection of the weather that had pelted them all day. And she stormed up the set of steps to the front of the hut. And only then did her rage fade and fall away.

Comparatively gently, she pushed the door in. She couldn’t hear Rei crying, but that didn’t mean much. Asuka suspected that Rei was the master of silent tears.

As always, Rei was sitting on the sofa when Asuka eclipsed the doorway. She looked up, a tiny frown marring her brow. Asuka’s mouth worked, searching for words.

“Just leave,” Rei all but snapped.

“I’m sorry,” Asuka blurted at the same time.

Rei looked honestly stunned by her words but the tightly controlled fury in her face didn’t disappear. “Why?” she asked in a strangled voice. “You took me there when I didn’t want to go just so they could say those things?”

“No. I didn’t. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked you to go with… I…” Asuka deflated.  She stepped further into the room and Rei shied away in response. When she sat on the sofa, Rei made sure there was as much space as humanly possible between them. “I’m sorry,” Asuka repeated. “I didn’t mean for that…”

Rei didn’t believe her. Asuka knew that, she did, but she wished there was some way to convince her all the same.

Neither of them moved. Not for a long time. Asuka could feel the words between them – the questions, demands, accusations – but none of them were given voice. Maybe there was no way to speak them; maybe she just couldn’t find a good place to start.

Maybe there _was_ no good place to start.

She turned, watching Rei’s profile in the dimness. The glitter was all but invisible here, but the slope of her nose, the lines of her cheekbones, the curve of her lips were all still discernible. And Asuka felt that liquid warmth blossom again, swirling and spreading until she couldn’t breathe.

After a long time, Asuka didn’t know how long, Rei finally glanced back. “Why?” was her solitary question.

“Why what?” Asuka probed gently.

“You were nice to me,” Rei clarified.

Asuka shook her head. “Those girls are awful. You don’t deserve that.”

“But I _am_ gay,” Rei told her quietly. Somehow the admission was ashamed and afraid and fierce and anxious and sad all at once. Asuka swallowed, mouth suddenly dry as dust.

“Okay.”

Rei’s gaze darted between Asuka’s eyes. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

“No.”

Rei blinked, clearly thrown by her simple reply. Very carefully, Asuka shuffled a little closer across the couch. Rei remained where she was. Eventually their knees bumped and the silence seemed to thicken.

“Last night,” Rei began timidly. “You kissed me.”

Asuka’s face went from its usual tan to Bright Bloody Red in a nanosecond. “You… were awake?” Rei nodded. “I thought you were asleep.”

Shaking her head gently Rei murmured, “I wasn’t.”

Asuka’s mouth worked but no sound came out. After another protracted second of silence she whispered, “Do you wish I hadn’t?” It was all she could muster, her voice had stopped working.

That time it was Rei’s mouth that opened and closed and opened and closed but nothing came out. She looked _adorable_ at a loss for words. Then, quietly, “No.” And after another beat. “They were right about that too.”

“What?” Asuka’s voice sounded much too small and much too scared.

Rei’s fingers twisted together unhappily. “I…” She sighed and turned her gaze away. “I quite like you… Asuka.” As if the only way she could confess that was if she wasn’t looking at Asuka when she did it.

“Rei, I…” Asuka had no idea what to say. A lie; she knew exactly what she wanted to say. But she didn’t know how to use _words_ all of a sudden. And her mouth was bone dry but no matter how she worked her jaw she could not seem to find the moisture to speak.

“It’s okay,” Rei mumbled. “I know.”

“You know what?”

Rei shrugged. “That you don’t like me. Not the same way.”

“I do.”

The words were out in the air before Asuka even had a chance to think about them. Rei’s eyes went wide, bigger than Asuka had ever seen them. Probably bigger than they’d ever been before. But then they narrowed again, not a second later.

“No,” Rei denied. “You don’t. You’re just saying that.” There were other things she left unspoken. The things about how if Asuka did then how could she have let the other girls say those things to Rei? Why hadn’t she _done_ something? Why, why, _why_?

Whatever hope had flared behind Rei’s warm eyes had disappeared, swallowed by the disbelief and hurt. Asuka waited, hoping _desperately_ to see it twinkle back to life. But it didn’t. And the silence stretched.

Her mouth fell open slightly, suddenly struck by the sense that this was it. She could either convince Rei that she was being painfully honest or there would be no more chances. But there were still no words she could think of that would suffice. No _words_ …

“How far,” Asuka began carefully, “would I have to go to prove I mean that?”

For the longest time Rei managed to keep her face expressionless. Her features didn’t betray a single stray thought. Not one. They didn’t give Asuka any indication as to what Rei would consider fair or believable. It was entirely useless, actually.

But then her eyes flicked down and away and Asuka had her answer.

Before she could think too hard about it and maybe reconsider, Asuka shifted forward. Rei barely had a chance to react before Asuka was kissing her. It was hasty and not very coordinated, their noses bumped and Rei sucked in a shaky breath, but then she relaxed, eyelashes skittering across Asuka’s cheek. Then Asuka leaned back, not wanting to press too far.

Rei’s eyes had closed and there was a truly vacant expression on her face. Asuka wanted to kiss her again. Once had definitely not been enough.

When Rei’s eyes drifted open there was something dazed in them, confused perhaps, but in the best way. Asuka felt the dopey smile spreading across her face and couldn’t do a thing to stop it. In response, a tiny and frail smile tugged the edges of Rei’s mouth. Asuka ran a thumb across one corner, over her cheek, lifting to sweep hair behind her ear.

After what felt like an eternity Rei murmured, “You meant it.”

“I _really_ like you,” Asuka told her unnecessarily. “Yes. I meant it.”

“Oh.” Pause. “But… The others…”

Asuka’s nose wrinkled but she was still smiling like a moron. “Well… I didn’t know if you liked girls to begin with and then they treated you _awfully_ and I guess… I guess I’m not as brave as I think I am because I was… scared… they’d treat me like that and… and I’m sorry.”

Rei shrugged. “I get it. It’s not fun.” Her fingers wrung together again and Asuka decided she didn’t like the way her anxiety trembled through them. So she wrapped her hand around one of Rei’s. And when Rei turned her palm over slowly and threaded their fingers together she could’ve just died. “But what… Are you…?” Her question faded both times but Asuka knew where she was going. It was the only place _to_ go.

“If any one of them so much as looks at you funny I’ll break her nose,” Asuka informed her decisively. “And in Shinobu’s case, I’ll be venting a lot of pent up anger.”

Rei actually laughed at that. She _laughed_. The sound was small and light, delicate and gentle, but it was laughter and Asuka was glad she hadn’t died earlier because that was worth living for.

“That seems extreme,” Rei said around her smile.

“Not even a little bit. They have it coming.”

“You could get in trouble.”

Asuka levelled her the flattest look she could manage under the circumstances. “If they insult my… girlfriend… then they deserve it.” She hesitated in the middle, somehow turning that one word into a question and then she held her breath. It was probably a little soon to be making assumptions, so she might’ve been jumping the gun. Sue her.

Rei’s face lit up though. “Girlfriend?” she asked so quietly Asuka almost didn’t hear.

“I mean… if you want…” she hastened to explain. “You don’t have to, like at all, I just…”

Rei pressing her lips to Asuka’s cheek shut her up quick smart. No way could she construct a coherent sentence. Nope.

“I would like that,” Rei whispered, hand tightening around Asuka’s. “Very much.”

All the air whooshed from Asuka’s lungs. “Okay. Good. Yep.” She couldn’t stop staring at Rei’s face. She quite liked how much nicer it was to see her smile. Infinitely better than crying, for sure. “And, Rei? I really am sorry.”

Rei just shrugged. Her smile only wavered a little. And then she was stifling a yawn.

Asuka laughed softly. “You slept all afternoon, how are you tired?”

“Crying is pretty exhausting,” Rei sighed.

“Yeah,” Asuka agreed, deflating. “Come on then. Let’s get some sleep.” She slid off the chair and drew Rei with her, backpedalling into the other room. And that time, Rei went with much less unwillingness.

“No showers?” Rei wheedled.

“We did nothing all day,” Asuka drawled. “I think we’ll be fine.”

Before Asuka could step away though, Rei tugged her closer. “Asuka?” she asked, voice tiny and worried again, shy even. “Will you… kiss me again?”

She leaned closer, _more_ than willing to do just that. And then she paused, their noses ghosting together, Rei’s eyes lidded and nervous. After a moment of deliberation, Asuka shook her head. “I want you to kiss me.”

Rei blinked, surprised by that. But she did close the almost non-existent gap and when their lips met that time it was wildly different. There was a desperateness to Rei’s mouth, questioning and careful, but also like she _needed_ this, like she’d been waiting for _years_. The notion staggered Asuka and she gasped into Rei’s mouth, hands coming up to slide around her neck, pulling her as close as she could.

When they parted it took Asuka much longer to refocus on the world around her, like she’d forgotten that things other than Rei existed with her. And the expression on Rei’s face was… incredible. She couldn’t resist the urge to kiss her again, just briefly though.

“Wow,” she mumbled against Rei’s cheek. “We should do that more often.”

Laughter thrummed through Rei’s ribs and into Asuka’s chest. “Okay. If you want.”

“Yes. Yes I do want.”

Rei’s hands – which had landed on her hips at some point during that – tightened just slightly. “Asuka?” She got only a hum in response. “Would you… stay with me?”

“We’re sharing a cabin, you nut,” Asuka giggled.

“No, I mean…”

Asuka leaned out. “Oh. Are you sure?”

Rei searched her face for a second before nodding. “I’m sure.”

Chewing her bottom lip (and drawing Rei’s eyes), Asuka nodded. “Alright. But what happens at camp stays at camp.”

Rei rolled her eyes. And that was adorable also. Everything about her was adorable. Oh good god, Asuka was in so much trouble.

It took them a bit of shuffling to arrange themselves nicely in the bed but it was so much warmer with two people. And Rei pressed her face into Asuka’s shoulder and sighed contentedly. Hesitantly, she wound her arm around Asuka’s middle and held on tight. In exchange, Asuka pressed another kiss to Rei’s forehead and wound their fingers together again.

“G’night, nerd,” she yawned.

She felt more than she heard the whispered, “Good night, Asuka.”

That was the first night Rei fell asleep without crying.


	6. Bonus Round

The bus was late and Asuka was not amused. Standing around waiting for it was hardly very exciting. Though… at least the rain had given way to sunlight so her furious pacing didn’t leave her sopping and cold. She could feel Rei watching her from the short porch outside their cabin, bags stacked beside her. Asuka could imagine the shy smile curving her lips, the tousled way her hair ruffled in the breeze. The picture had warmth crawling across her face.

So she paced a little harder, folding her arms across her chest.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “If this bus doesn’t get here soon I’m going to kill someone.”

“Ouch,” Misato laughed. “My company is that bad, huh? Didn’t think camp was the sort of thing to kill over.”

“She’s just frustrated over the lack of boys,” Sakura stage whispered. “It’s been a whole week.”

Unbidden, Asuka’s eyes leapt to Rei and she missed a step. She nearly tripped into Sakura then and swatted her on the shoulder anyway. “You are infuriating, Suzuhara,” she huffed.

“Aw, you don’t miss Toji?” she teased.

Asuka rolled her eyes. “Ew. _Hikari_ misses Toji.”

They both turned to look at their friend, a blush now creeping up her throat. “Don’t be silly,” Hikari stammered unconvincingly. They laughed at her.

“It’s probably wi-fi withdrawals,” Misato decided. “That’s why I hate camp.”

Before any of them could address that comment, the bus _finally_ rolled into the grounds, stopping in the same place it had days earlier. Asuka heaved a sigh of relief and hastened back to the cabin to help Rei with the bags. That stupid smile bloomed on her face as soon as she reached the porch and her heart did that equally dumb flip flopping thing when her hand brushed Rei’s on one of the bag handles. Thank goodness she wasn’t alone in looking like a moron though, Rei’s return smile was still kind of coy and fragile, but it was just as warm.

They didn’t speak a word but that was probably for the best. Asuka didn’t know if she could stop from saying something compromising. And she was definitely having a hard time not kissing Rei. Like she was some single-minded idiot, it was all she wanted to do. It was the first thing she’d done that morning. The memory brought a fresh wave of pink to her face and she had to fight it down as they walked to the bus.

Sakura and Hikari had dawdled, waiting for Asuka to catch up to them, so they were some of the last onto the bus. But while her friends grabbed a pair of seats near the front, clearly expecting Asuka to join them, she sank onto the empty space beside Rei. To be fair, even Rei looked startled by this; as if she hadn’t expected Asuka to sit with her. Asuka didn’t notice the looks she was getting straight away; she was too busy rummaging around in her bag wondering if she’d packed her book. She hadn’t. Awesome.

“Asuka.”

It’s Rei’s quiet voice that she responded to, looking up to find those brown eyes staring past her worriedly. She twisted to redirect her gaze and found both Sakura and Hikari looking at her like she’d sprouted a second head. Almost Asuka checked to make sure that hadn’t, in fact, happened.

Hikari had slid over to sit beside Sakura, one row back and on the other side of the aisle. She lifted an eyebrow. “What…?” She didn’t seem capable of articulating a more precise question than that.

“What?” Asuka fired back, her own eyebrows disappearing into her fringe.

“This,” she spluttered, waving a hand in Asuka’s direction. “What?” Her question wasn’t any less vague the second time.

“I’m sitting next to Rei,” she said slowly. “What’s the big deal?”

They continued to stare at her but Asuka just turned to stare out the window past Rei. Before anyone could say anything their teacher stepped up into the bus and all speaking stopped. The last of the students filed on and slipped past him, finding their seats hurriedly.

“I hope you had a good week,” he droned in his irritatingly nasal voice. “It would be nice to think you learned something…” he trailed off as if not expecting they would have. “We’ll be back at the school grounds this afternoon, please make sure you have transport arranged when we get there. I do not want to be lingering on the campus all evening.”

With that he sank into his seat at the front and opened his book, clearly ready to be done with his fetch quest. It took another few minutes before the bus started and rumbled away from the campsite. Misato waved cheerily at them as they rolled away but Ritsuko was too busy frowning at her co-worker to pay them any notice.

As the bus trundled back out onto the highway, the conversation in the bus picked back up. Asuka kept one ear trained on the topics going on immediately around her but she couldn’t identify any words that might indicate someone needing a good thrashing. But as far as she could tell, everyone was excitedly discussing what they’d be doing with their holiday. And apparently Rei didn’t feature in any of their adventures.

Which was fine by Asuka; she had every intention of involving Rei in _her_ holidays though. To that end, she leaned a little closer to Rei. “Hey,” she whispered into her ear. “Can I borrow your phone?”

Rei gave her a funny look, but other than that didn’t hesitate before passing it over. She kept her eyes glued to Asuka’s hands as she typed in her information and saved herself into Rei’s contacts list before firing herself a text. Then she passed the phone back. Rei’s expression was still confused, just a little, but there was wonder coiling behind her eyes too.

“Call me, yeah?” Asuka laughed softly.

That shy smile blossomed across Rei’s face again and she nodded. “Okay.” Then she offered Asuka one of her earphones. Which was really nice. That secret window into Rei’s life once more opened up for her and her heart skipped a beat.

Vaguely Asuka wondered if it would ever stop doing that. She didn’t think she’d mind if it continued doing that forever. Not really.

Rei slipped her book free of her bag, apparently happy to read all the way home. Asuka’s fingers found her knee, scratching gently across the fabric and she smiled when Rei shifted against her, an obvious reaction. She sighed and let her head fall against Rei’s shoulder, eyes closing. She didn’t really think she’d fall asleep, but she must have.

It was overcast when she was jolted awake by a pothole. Rei had closed her book by then and she was toying with Asuka’s fingers absently. She looked around when Asuka sat up so abruptly though.

“Ugh,” Asuka huffed, letting her head slide back to Rei’s shoulder. “How much longer?”

“About ten minutes,” Rei replied. “I’m surprised you slept.”

Asuka hummed into her collar. “Camp was a lot of work,” she mumbled.

Rei bobbed her head but didn’t speak. Of course it had been a lot of work for her. _Obviously_. The fact that she’d survived was a testament to something… her determination maybe.

After a few minutes, Asuka muttered, “That feels really nice.” She meant her fingers but she didn’t know if Rei understood. Though from the way Rei’s fingers paused in their actions, pressing a little harder across her knuckles briefly… she must have known. “Are you getting picked up by someone at the school?”

Again, Rei’s fingers stalled. “No. I’ll be on the bus.”

“Would you like a lift?”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

Asuka rolled her head around to look at the side of Rei’s face. “Mum won’t mind, you know? Unless you’re worried about me knowing where you live?” She hoped her tone at the end was teasing.

Rei smiled, so there was that. It didn’t last long though, wobbling and fading into something more serious all too soon for Asuka’s liking. “It’s not that. I just…  I don’t know how my foster mother would react.”

Oh. “Alright. The offer stands though, whenever you want.”

“Thank you.”

The bus lurched again, bouncing over the speed bumps at the entrance to the school grounds and Asuka leaned away from Rei so she didn’t head butt her or something else equally mortifying. Through the window, Asuka could see the parents waiting in the lot. She picked out her mother, leaning against their silvery car, talking to some other woman and Sakura’s mum. Toji was with them. Asuka rolled her eyes pre-emptively before twisting in her seat to find her friend.

“Hey, your brother is here,” she called back to Sakura.

“That should make Hikari happy,” Sakura teasing, elbowing the other girl.

“Oh you’re both hilarious.” But her face had gone red. “Such comedians. Don’t speak to me over the holidays.”

“Aw,” Sakura sang. “You don’t mean that. We’ll have to meet up at some point.”

Hikari rolled her eyes but then the bus was rolling to a stop, saving Sakura from whatever witty retort was coming. The volume increased almost exponentially for the two minutes it took for the teacher to get up and speak. He had to clap his hands together to get their attention.

“I know you’re all very excited,” he drawled. “But you are still on school grounds for the next few minutes so please, calm yourselves. If you would, wait for the bus to leave before you all make a hasty exit that would be great. There’s no sense creating a traffic problem here.” He waved a hand, motioning the front few rows to disembark, though naturally all the girls at the back were standing and ready to go too.

The fact that they made it all the way back to school without incident seemed like a miracle to Asuka. How it had happened was a mystery. Of course, as soon as her feet hit the gravel outside the peace and quiet ended. Or well okay, no. As soon as _Shinobu’s_ feet hit the ground, that’s when everything was ruined. She was good at that.

Asuka had already grabbed her bags and was standing on the pavement by the assembly hall with her friends when Shinobu spotted her. Specifically, she seemed to pay particular attention to the fact that Rei was with them, her eyes lighting up as she sauntered over. Rei, no surprises, stepped back, attempting to make herself as small as possible. But oh that didn’t bother Shinobu.

“Sat with the dyke on the bus, I see,” she mused. “What, did she brainwash you or something?”

“What time is it?” Asuka asked Hikari.

“Um… four minutes past three, why?”

“Good.” Asuka dropped her bag on the ground and crossed the last few paces to Shinobu. “If you say one more horrible thing about Rei, I swear to god I’m going to put you in a hospital bed.”

There was _absolute_ silence for all of one… two… three heartbeats. Though Asuka’s heart was going pretty fast so maybe it wasn’t the best to count by. Still, Shinobu only smiled; a little confused, a little wary, yes, but cocksure and obnoxious too.

“Oh yeah? She did do something to you, didn’t she? Trapped in a room with her for a week, obviously she must have–”

 _Crack_.

Shinobu cut off, staggered back a couple of steps and yelped, hand rising to her face reflexively. Actually it was more of a high pitched shriek than anything else. The girls over by the bus stopped and turned, watching curiously. Thankfully, none of them seemed to have actually witnessed when Asuka’s fist smacked into Shinobu’s nose.

And when Shinobu lifted a hand away from her nose, it was bloody. Asuka smiled.

“It’s not a hospital bed,” Asuka sighed. “You’re getting off lightly.”

There was another moment of silence. Shinobu was too busy staring wide-eyed at her dripping fingers to come up with a sassy retort apparently. But when she did it was, “What the actual _fuck_ , Langley!”

“I told you,” Asuka repeated darkly. “Say one more thing about Rei and I’ll end you. Got it?”

Slowly, Shinobu backed away. “You’re insane,” she decided. And then she shuffled off, still with one hand pressed to her nose.

Asuka huffed and turned back to her friends. All three of them were looking at her like they had honestly never seen her before. Eyes wide, mouths hanging open to matching degrees. The only difference was the way Rei’s eyes sparkled; she looked a little less dumbfounded and a little more awestruck. Asuka’s heart skipped.

“You punched her,” Hikari muttered.

“She had it coming.”

“She… what?”

Asuka rolled her eyes. “Had it coming, Hikari, pay attention. I did warn her.”

Hikari looked like she wanted to ask another stupid question but she didn’t get the chance.

“Hey, Langley.” They all looked over to find Toji hurrying towards them. “Did you do that?” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, obviously meaning Shinobu. Rei began to shuffle away, probably uncomfortable with the situation.

“Yep,” she told him, popping her ‘p’, eyes following Rei’s progress. “You want one?”

He chuckled, uncertainly, not sure if she was serious. “Pass. You wanna go to a movie tomorrow?”

She grabbed hold of her bag again and whacked him hard across the chest. “No. I don’t.” He staggered back a step under the weight of her blow. “See you later. Rei!”

The other girl had made it almost to the end of the drive but Asuka was fast and determined and she did stop when her name was called. She blinked at Asuka. “Yes?”

“You were just gonna leave?” she asked tonelessly. But she was smiling. God she didn’t seem to be able to shake it.

Rei shrugged. “I thought you’d want to hang out with your friends.”

“You’re my friend.”

Red inched across Rei’s nose. “Oh.”

“And hey, Rei? If they don’t like you for being gay, they sure won’t like me either.”

For a second Rei looked thoroughly confused by that. But then Asuka tilted forward and kissed her. Right there in the parking lot. Where everyone could see.

Rei gasped quietly, her hands coming up to ghost across Asuka’s cheeks. They fell away, winding into Asuka’s collar and holding on tight. She stepped in closer, but Rei was like two inches shorter and she had to lean up, rising onto her tip toes. It made Asuka smile stupidly and she could feel Rei smiling too.

Then, Rei was backing away, her face a brilliant crimson. “Oh my god,” she breathed. And her eyes flicked past Asuka’s shoulder.

When Asuka twisted to see what she was staring at she found quite a scene. Hikari, Sakura and Toji all looked absolutely gobsmacked. Only a few other girls were paying them any attention but Shinobu, with a cloth held against her face was one of them. It took a second, but then Toji let out a loud wolf whistle from across the lot. Sakura slapped him. Bless her.

“They all saw,” Rei murmured.

“Good,” Asuka replied.

“Why is that _good_?”

Asuka smiled. “Maybe Toji will stop hitting on me now.”

“And… and what if they say something?”

“I will break all their noses. Promise.”

“You will definitely get detention for that.”

Slowly, Asuka leaned in to kiss her again, soft and slow. “It’ll be worth it.”

Rei smiled and pulled her down to kiss her.


End file.
